


All That Glitters

by Imogen_LeFay



Series: Cooper The Vampire Slayer [3]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Buffy The Vampire Slayer Fusion, F/M, M/M, Post-Relationship, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-04-25 15:24:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 27,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4966168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imogen_LeFay/pseuds/Imogen_LeFay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another day in Sunnydale turns to chaos when Blaine finds an unexpected visitor on the Andersons' door step. But a mysterious new pet isn't all he has to deal with - it's competing with a suddenly inquisitive brother, an exasparating kinda-sorta-crush, and absolutely everybody around him losing their mind. </p>
<p>In conclusion - another day in Sunnydale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As I'm still preparing for exams and also working at another story, this is probably going to take a while.  
> It was supposed to be a oneshot, but once I started writing, I realized it would be too long, so... several parts. 
> 
> The story takes place about two weeks after Here Comes The Sun.
> 
> This is a set-up chapter, and I tried to write in some backstory for the whole verse. Also, some Anderbro bonding, I think this verse can need more of that, and of Cooper's special brand of madness. Don't worry, Kurt is coming in next chapter. And to (hopefully) avoid confusion, here a small note: Quinn used to be part of the Scoobie gang but left Sunnydale due to personal reasons.
> 
> So, for this chapter: The Anderson brothers try to be supportive of each other, and Blaine makes a discovery.

* * *

Blaine took a last look into the mirrror to check his appearance – his hair, especially, was just a horror to manage in the  hot climate in Sunnydale, even compared with what he had gotten used to in Ohio. He nodded to himself shortly, picked up his messenger back, and left his room. Walking down the stairs, he could hear Cooper's voice coming from the living room. Curiously, he looked into the living room, where he could see Cooper sitting at their dining table, a laptop and a legal pad in front of him, and he was cursing softly. As Blaine approached, his brother crumpled a piece of paper into a ball and threw it behind him. It wasn't the only one, either. On a first survey, Blaine counted to a dozen paper balls.

With a frown, Blaine stepped to the table.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

Cooper looked up, a bit surprised about the approach. “Welll... I'm  _trying_ to work on my next novel.”

“Another one from that science fiction series?” Blaine asked, trying not to sound too interested.

“Oh god, no,” Cooper said, shuddering. “I need a break from _that_ drama. This is about the female monster hunter and that werewolf tribe.”

“Ah, that one,” Blaine said, and he was starting to get a bad feeling about what direction this was going in. “The pretty blonde former cheerleader who tried to turn her back to hunting but gets sucked in again... What was her name again?”

“Lucy,” Cooper answered. He almost managed to look okay while saying it, but Blaine knew him better than that.

“Right, Lucy,” Blaine said, nodding. “Wasn't that Quinn's middle name?”

“No, it wasn't,” Cooper snapped, turnin back to his laptop. “It's her first name,” he muttered.

“Sorry,” Blaine said. “Um... so what's the problem with the story?”

Cooper sighed, throwing up his hands. “It's not working,” he said. “The romance, it's just... I can't get it to work. Why would she fall in love with a werewolf? Why would a werewolf stop killing? It's not like it's a rational choice for them, they're just completely wild once per month.”

“You don't have to portrait them completely realistically,” Blaine said, “maybe these werewolves can learn to control it?”

“They're still killers. I don't know what she'd be seeing in them!”

Blaine's first instinct was to remind him that  _Quinn_ hadn't left to date werewolves, but he didn't want to  upset Cooper more than was necessary. Instead, he bowed down to pick up one of the rolled up balls. Maybe there was a way he could help...  But o nce he had  straightened it  out, he looked up at Cooper sceptically.

“Cooper? This is just empty paper.”

Cooper looked up at him as if he was very slow at the moment. “Of course it is. You know I'm working on my laptop. Why would I write  any thing down  on paper ?”

“So... you just crumple empty sheets? Why?”

Cooper sighed. “Writing 101, Blaine. If you don't get anywhere, you throw around balled up paper sheets. It's what you do. Have you never seen a movie with a writer in it?”

Blaine looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Riiight, that makes sense,” he said,  deciding not to fight this particular battle . “So if it bothers you so much, then why don't you have her end up with someone else?”

“The romance is integral to the plot,” Cooper said, “and what kind of person could I bring in that would be better for her to date?”

“How about another monster hunter? Maybe her ex-boyfriend who taught her everything and whom she left out of circumstances, not because she didn't love him anymore?”

Cooper was quiet for a moment, before he sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Wouldn't work with the story,” he said, “and it would take away from the message of her being the empowered one. Besides, I fucking hate love triangles.”

“You're a paranormal romance writer, I think love triangles are the basis of your job,” Blaine said. “And you have one in the science fiction series... and the vampire series... and the angel series...”

“That doesn't mean I like them,” Cooper said.

“You could have her end up on her own. Let her see in the end that the werewolf isn't as good as he pretended to be, let her defeat him and go on with her life with some important lessons learned.”

Cooper sighed in even more exasperation. “It's a romance novel, Blaine!”

Now it was Blaine who started to feel uneasy. “Just because it's romance doesn't mean it has to have a happy end,” he said. “Anyway, I'll leave you to it. I have a study group.”

He turned around and was halfway to the door, when Cooper stopped him.

“Wait. Who's the guy?”

Blaine froze for a second, before he turned around. “Sam,” he said, trying to sound as calm as possible. Cooper was just fishing. “We have a literature class together, and there'll be a test soon.”

“Not your study group,” he said. “Tell me about the _guy_.”

“What guy?” Blaine asked.

“Sit!”

What he should be doing was to wallk out, after all Cooper had no authority over him. Instead, Blaine found himself walking back to the table and sitting down.

“So, the guy. Spill.”

“How do you even know there is a guy?” Blaine asked, slightly exasparated.

Cooper rolled his eyes. “I'm a romance write r , Blaine. I have a n eye for these things. And you've been sulking for two weeks, not to mention that you've been weird for a few weeks before that. I think it's time we have a talk.”

“Do we have to?” Blaine asked.

Cooper's slightly triumphing look turned more serious. “You know you can talk to me about this, right?” he asked. “Look, I know I haven't exactly been a stellar brother to you...”

“You're doing a great job,” Blaine said, “you're putting me through college! That's pretty great.”

Cooper rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean. I wasn't there for you for a lot of occasions when I know you could have needed my support. I wasn't there when you came out. I didn't help you with our parents when you were in school, I didn't even manage to stand up for you when they cut you off... And that whole Dalton mess...”

“It wasn't a mess, I just changed schools. People do that all the time,” Blaaine said.

“I still think you should have stayed there,” Cooper said, “I get that it would have been hard for you with all the reminders, but it would have been better for you. It was a great school, and you always sounded so happy when you were talking about the warblers and your friends there. Was it really worth getting away from there and going to that backwater hick town instead?”

Blaine frowned. This wasn't a subject he wanted to talk about  _ever_ , but  it sounded like his brother had fundamentally  misunderstood something. “Cooper... Leaving Dalton wasn't my choice,” he said. “It was something the principal agreed on with our parents, said it would keep the scandal small. They  basically kicked me out.”

“What?” Cooper stared at him as if he'd been hit. “And our parents allowed that?”

Blaine shrugged. “ Well, they thought I was an embarrassment, and maybe going back to a 'real' school would teach me  to behave .”

“Dad said that?” Cooper asked.

“Don't tell me you're surprised.”

Cooper looked actually distressed now. “But you hadn't done anything wrong. You hadn't done  _ anything _ , it was that guy,” he said.

Blaine rolled his eyes. This was the part of the conversation he was used to, “I was legal, I knew what I was doing, and I was just as involved as he was.”

“He was a _teacher_!”

Blaine sighed. “We've been over this, Cooper, and I really don't want to talk about  it .”

“But... don't you think we kind of _need_ to talk about this?” Cooper asked.

“It was seven years ago,” Blaine said. “Let it go. _Please._ ”

For a moment he thought Cooper would insist, but then he nodded. “Okay, yes, I'm sorry,” he said softly, as if he had upset Blaine and was trying to calm him down again. “I don't want to bother you with it. Just... if you do want to talk, you know that I'm here, right?  And that I'm on your side? ”

Blaine managed a small smile. “I know. Thank you. But I should go now, Sam's waiting.”

“We haven't talked about the guy yet,” Cooper said.

Blaine sighed. “Cooper, there's not much to tell. Yes, there is a guy, but nothing's going to happen with him, so I don't really see why we need to talk about  it .”

“Then why are you sulking?” Cooper asked.

“Well... it's nothing, really,” Blaine said. At least he had spent the last two weeks trying to tell himself that.

Cooper  looked at him  with a raised eyebrow . “It's  _not_ nothing. It upsets you.”

Blaine looked at him in surprise, but eventuallly, he nodded. “It does,” he admitted. “Alright, the guy... There's not much to say. We're friends. Close friends, I think. And it's... it's stupid, really. I never even thought about him like this. He's not exactly the kind of person I could see myself with...”

“Why's that?” Cooper asked.

Blaine shrugged. “He's not my usual type,” he said. It wasn't exactly true, but if your brother was the slayer, the last thing you would dare to say was that you were well on your way to falling in love with a vampire.

Cooper clearly wasn't convinced, but he didn't insist on the point. “So when did you start thinking of him like this?”

“He... did something that made me believe that he liked me,” Blaine said, hoping he could use Cooper's guilt over their previous conversation to get out of providing more details. “It kind of threw me off, actually. As I said, I didn't see him that way. But then I spent a whole day just... obsessing over it. When he kissed me, it just... it kind of opened a floodgate. So I was thinking for hours, do I like him? Do I want to be with him? Is this something I can see myself doing? And it's... I don't know.”

“So what conclusion did you come to?” Cooper asked.

Blaine just managed to stop himself from running a hand through his hair, which would have ruined it again. “I... I thought I'd try. You know, being with him. I knew already that I care d about him, and I thought... maybe it could be worth it, to see if it could work.”

“I sense a but coming...”

Blaine grinned, although there was little humor in it. “ _But..._ when I saw him again, he didn't even let me get to th at point, and just told me flat out that he wasn't actually interested. He'd been... upset at the time, a n d I reminded him of someone... oh, and apparently he sees me as just a kid.”

Cooper's eyebrows rose. “Wait, how old did you say he was?”

Blaine sighed. “Can we not?”

“Right, right, sorry,” Cooper said. “So... what now?”

“Nothing, as I said. He isn't interested, and I'll just have to get over it. It's okay, though, I'll live. Not much happened, anyway. I'll be fine – nothing hurt but my ego.”

“You are going to be fine,” Cooper said. “I get it, this must really suck. But... you're going to be okay. And hey, if he can't see you're awesome, then screw him. Well, don't screw him in this case. I mean... you know what I mean, right?”

“I do,” Blaine said.

“And besides... sooner or later, you are going to find somebody. And I promise, he will be nothing like you pictured him. But that will make it much better, that will make it real. Maybe he's the last person you ever pictured yourself with. But he'll be right for you, and he'll be worth the wait.”

Blaine blinked. This was surprisingly deep for Cooper, and he couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat. His thoughts went to Kurt, who so far actually matched what Cooper said – someone he could have never seen coming, and yet...

But it was pointless. Kurt didn't  see him that way. The guys he fell in love with never did. And the ones that fell in love with him... Well, that was a completely different disaster area.

“So... are we good?” Blaine asked.

“We're great,” Cooper said, raising his hand. Blaine could just so step back before it reached his hair.

“Don't do that,” Blaine said.

“Oh come on,” Cooper said, rolling his eyes. “I'm your brother, I'm allowed to mess up your hair.”

“You are _so_ not,” Blaine said, huffing. “I take it back, you're a horrible brother.”

“Keep talking, pip-squeak, and I'll make you actually earn your living around here,” Cooper said, winking at him. “Now go, Sam's waiting.”

Blaine grinned. “Good luck with your romance,” he said, before turning to leave.

As he walked to the door, he noticed to his surprise that he felt calmer than before. For some reason, the conversation had really helped him. Th is was probably the best thing about Cooper, he always managed to surprise.

Still in thought, Blaine opened the front door – and stopped in his tracks. He looked down, not sure if he was actually seeing what he thought he was seeing. He then decided it couldn't be, so he stepped back, shut the door again, closed his eyes and counted to ten. Afterwards, he looked outside again. The picture hadn't changed. Huge eyes of dark silver looked up at him, surrounded by white, and above them...

Disbelieving, Blaine put out his hand, only to touch soft fur. They eyes closed, and the head moved against his hand. Unsure, Blaine petted the fur.

So, another day in Sunnydale.

Slowly, he turned around, not failing to notice the tapping sound following behind him.

Cooper was just busy crumpling up another piece of paper. “Please tell me you came back to tell me the perfect idea to solve this,” he said without looking up.

“A unicorn,” Blaine said.

Cooper shook his head. “No, unicorns don't fit in there at all,” he said. “Werewolves and unicorns? I don't see it.”

“No... Cooper... Look.”

With a sigh, Cooper turned around. When he saw the creature that had followed after Blaine into the room, his eyes widened so far that it was almost a miracle they didn't fall out.

“Blaine? What is that?” he asked.

Blaine looked down to what looked like a foal, not much more than three feet in high, and the silver horn protruding from its forehead.

“Well... I think it's a baby unicorn.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

There hadn't been much going on in Sunnydale lately. Of course, there were the usual skirmishes with vampires and the slayer and his little group, but nothing even close to apocalyptic, and nothing that they couldn't handle.

Not that Kurt had been watching them. He really had better things to do with his time. So he might have seen the slayer and his group around a few times, and maybe he had stayed and waited to make sure they didn't get killed. And fine, he may have gotten rid  of  that one vampire a week ago that had been stalking Blaine and Tina as they were preparing to cast a spell on whatever they'd been hunting  at the time (a leprechaun, and where did they even  _find_ those things?) .

It didn't mean that he cared. And right now, he had just decided to take a walk at night, which he did regularly. Granted, the old  duck pond wasn't usually in his path, not since the hag living there had made it clear she didn't particularly appreciate vampire visits... but either way, he was  _not_ here because Blaine had walked up to the pond with Santana by his side. And he was definitely not staying close to see what happened just because Blaine had started chanting a summoning to the hag.

Oh, who was he kidding?

Kurt had thought it would make things easier if he kept his distance from Blaine for a while. But so far, it hadn't done anything but turn him into a stalker. Watching Blaine from afar hadn't helped Kurt the least to stop thinking about him. It might even be worse now.

Maybe what he needed was complete distance. He could try to stay away completely. But he couldn't  stop worry ing . Blaine was so human, so fragile, and this was Sunnydale – probably the most dangerous town on this damn continent. It wasn't as if Kurt hadn't tried, but he couldn't stay here with Blaine roaming the streets of Sunnydale and not be worried. Besides, he had tried getting away before, back when he had gone to Ohio for a few months. That, too, had made the issue even worse.  It had been months, and he still sometimes saw that vision when he closed his eyes...

Maybe there was something to be learned there... The more he tried to stay away from this boy, the harder he got pulled back. Maybe resistance was simply futile...

“Will you just stop?!”

Kurt looked up in surprise when he heard Santana shouting. He had zoned out completely, but to his relief, he found the two of them still standing in front of the pond, no hag in sight.

“Can you not shout? We don't want people to notice us,” Blaine said, casting an annoyed look at Santana.

“Look, that thing clearly doesn't want to talk. Probably because you messed up the summoning. Anyway, she's not showing. So how about you stop wasting my time and leave the hag-summoning to somebody who actually knows what they're doing?”

“I did _not_ mess up the summon,” Blaine said. “It's exactly what Tina wrote down for me. It should work. Maybe she just doesn't want to talk to us...”

“I don't really care either way,” Santana said. “I want to get out of this muck. If Tina wants to talk to a hag, tell her to get her own lazy ass here.”

“Tina's researching,” Blaine said, the frown now clear on his face. Kurt, too, was a bit surprised. He knew that Santana had quite a temper, but she seemed to be in an especially bad mood tonight.

“And whose fault is that?” she snapped back. “Oh right, yours, and your damn pet's.”

“This is actually important,” Blaine said. “And don't tell me you don't want to know what that's about.”

“What I want is to get back to my dorm and spend some time with my damn girlfriend,” Santana snapped. “I have better things to do than come here and play your babysitter.”

“We need that information,” Blaine said, “and Cooper is busy.”

“Doing what?”

Blaine paused. Eventually he looked away from Santana. “He just  _is,_ okay _?_ ” he said.

“Where's your vampire then?” Santana asked. “I haven't seen him in a while. What, little lovers' spat there?”

Blaine's head snapped back at her, and for a moment he stared at her incredulous ly . Eventually, though he shook his head.

“You know what, Santana? You're right. I don't need you here. You should go and see Brittany. Go, spend time with her. Use every day, every minute you've got left before she gets sick of your attitude and returns home. I imagine that's not gonna take too long.”

For a second, Kurt feared that Santana would hit him, judging from how furious she looked at Blaine. Instead, her fist hit the tree  to her right , before she turned and left without another word.

It was obvious from the way Blaine's shoulders sagged that he hadn't been so sure on how  s he'd react, either. But that wasn't what had Kurt concerned. He could easily agree that Santana had an attitude problem, and really needed a reality check sometimes.  But it wasn't exactly usual behavior for Blaine to be the one to confront her about it, especially not this aggressively.

Something was going on.

Once more, it was a shout that tore Kurt from his thoughts, and this time, it hit him to the core. It was Blaine, shouting from fright. As Kurt looked up again, he found Blaine pushed against the tree, and – of course – a vampire in front of him, holding him against it. Kurt recognized  it as a member of that new coven, the one that had thought they could just invade Kurt's territory, just because he was gone for a few months...

“Look what we have here... the slayer's brother,” the vampire said.

“Oh, do me a favor and get a new line,” Blaine replied, as if he wasn't bothered by it.

“The boss wants you... He's got plans for you,” the vampire said. “Big plans...”

Kurt had been about to attack, but he hesitated. Plans... that could become important.

And Blaine seemed to follow the same train of thought. “What kind of plans?”

“You'll learn soon enough,” the vampire said.

“Of course,” Blaine said, now sounding quite nonchalant. “I wouldn't assume you'd even be told about it. You don't seem important enough.”

“I will be, once I bring you back,” the vampire hissed.

“Aaand that's my cue,” Kurt said, stepping up behind the vampire. It could hardly turn around, before he tore it away from Blaine and threw it to the ground. It was an especially weak vampire, even for that coven of teenagers. Kurt held out his hand in expectation, not even looking back to Blaine to communicate what he needed. It wasn't necessary either, as the next moment he could feel the stake placed into his hand. A few seconds later, only a heap of dust remained of the vampire.

“So much for that,” Kurt said to himself, before he turned around.

He hadn't been prepared to see Blaine so close to him, with his cheeks flushed from the adrenaline, his eyes wide and almost black in the darkness, a smile forming on his face. Kurt wasn't sure who had moved first, but then they were hugging. It was supposed to be short, but Kurt found it really hard to let go, especially when Blaine was holding onto him.

Eventually, it was the boy who stepped back. If Kurt had expected any awkwardness, he was to be disappointed. Blaine looked up at him with happiness and relief shining from his eyes.

“You have the best timing _ever_ ,” Blaine said.

“Maybe you're just lucky,” Kurt replied. “I'm not usually in this area. You know how dangerous Sunnydale is, especially for you, and then you go send away your bodyguard?”

Blaine ducked his head. “You heard that?” he asked.

“Hard not to,” Kurt said. “Come on, I'll walk you home, then you can tell me what this was about.”

Blaine shrugged. “Santana's been really difficult lately, please don't ask me why. It's really tiring to hear her complain about everything.”

For a while, they kept walking in silence, and Kurt felt it slipping into the beginnings of awkwardness. There had to be something they could talk about, so he just tried with the first thing that came to his mind. “So... How have things been?”

A wide grin almost split Blaine's face. “Things have been  _great_ ,” he said. “You won't believe what happened.”

“What happened?” Kurt asked. He was relieved at how happy Blaine sounded. It made him hope that whatever awkwardness the kiss and its aftermath might have caused, had passed over in the weeks of their separation. Even if Blaine had been upset, he had gotten over it by now, and if he wasn't interested in anything more... well, then maybe it would be easier for Kurt to keep his distance again.

“I have a pet baby unicorn.”

That was probably on the list of the things he would have least expected to hear tonight. “You what?”

Blaine was still grinning, probably bright enough to light up a sun.  “ I have a pet baby unicorn,” he repeated. “ Come on, I'll show you!”

* * *

Kurt recognized the slayer's home, even though it had been a long time since he had been able to enter it – and even that had been very short-lived. His guilt returned, when he thought back on it, and he hurried to fall back in step with Blaine.

“You're not going to invite me in, are you?” he asked.

Blaine rolled his eyes. “ Trust me, I'm n ot making that mistake again,” he said, a strict eyebrow raised as a warning. Kurt's eyes fell to the scars on Blaine's  throat . They were tiny, probably hardly visible if one didn't know what to look for, but to Kurt they could have been laser points.

“She's in the garden,” Blaine said, “come on.”

Kurt followed to the garden, where the shack seemed to have been re-modeled into some sort of stable. He stopped, staring at it in disbelief.

“You can't keep a unicorn in a garden, anybody could see,” he said. “Even for Sunnydale, that would be a bit conspicuous...”

“We're hiding her,” Blaine said. “She's in here, come on.”

Blaine walked to the shed, and as Kurt followed, he could see a white creature stepping closer. It turned out to be what looked like a tiny snow white pony, and on its forehead...

“Um.. Blaine? I hate to break this to you.... but that's not a baby unicorn. That's a pony with a cardboard cone strapped to its head.”

“You mean a foal, Kurt, a pony is a different things,” Blaine said. “Also, shut up and watch.”

Blaine knelt down beside the pony – or foal – and started to take of f the strapped-on horn. As he removed it, Kurt saw that beneath it, there was another horn – this one not made from cardboard, but of a strong, shining material. He caught himself staring. It was indeed a unicorn. A unicorn foal.

“Where did you find it?” Kurt asked.

“She was on my doorstep,” Blaine said, stroking over its fur, as the animal nuzzled closer to him. “No note, nothing.”

“Wait, I thought they only let virgins close,” Kurt said.

Blaine looked up at him with a frown, although it looked just a bit annoyed. “Apparently not,” he said, although his voice was completely controlled. “Come on, let's see if she likes you.”

Kurt frowned. “I'm a vampire,” he said. “You really think a creature of purity would let me get close enough to touch?”

Blaine shrugged. “She doesn't follow usual rules,” he said. “She's very sweet with everyone, even Brittany. And you'll be fine. I like you, she'll like you too.”

Still dubious, Kurt knelt down beside the boy and reached out his hand, offering it to the foal. It hesitated for a moment,  looking like a cat smelling at someone it didn't know . After another pause, it nuzzled against his hand. Surprised, Kurt stroked its fur. It was soft,  like touching cotton wool. The unicorn closed its eyes, as  if it was happy.

“A unicorn that accepts vampires? That's unusual.”

“ _She_ is unusual,” Blaine said. “And so are you.”

Kurt's eyes widened. If his heart was beating, it would speed up at this. But when he looked up at Blaine, the boy seemed completely calm.

“Where did she come from?” Kurt asked.

Blaine shrugged. “We don't know yet,” he said. “Tina has been trying to find any magical signatures, but... it hasn't been going so well. You'd think unicorn hair would work amazingly with magic, but so far  we've got nothing . So we decided to just take care of her until things are clearer. That's why we went to see the hag, too. We thought she might know something.”

“And you disguise the unicorn... as a fake unicorn?”

Blaine shrugged. “It's perfect. I told people that Cooper needed an inspiration for  a unicorn novel. He's eccentric enough that they believe it.” He took the straps and put the fake horn back on.

“So, what's her name?” Kurt asked.

Blaine looked up in su spicion . “What made you think she came with a name?”

Kurt looked at him with raised eyebrows. “I know you. Of course you named her.”

Blaine hesitated, but then he smiled softly. “Amalthea,” he said.

Kurt couldn't help a fond smile. “That's a good name.”

Blaine lowered his gaze, as a blush formed in his face. “Don't tell anyone else. They'll just laugh.”

“Will they?” Kurt asked.

Blaine's eyes clouded, and Kurt felt his worry rise. His former feeling that something was going on here was returning.

“The thing is... it's not just Santana. Everyone has been really stressed lately,” he said. “People are getting annoyed, and short-tempered really quickly. Not sure what's going on there.” He shrugged then. “But it's alright, I have Almathea to look after. She's keeping me busy while everybody else is being touchy.”

“I believe so,” Kurt said, petting the unicorn again. “So she's really yours?”

“She likes me best,” Blaine said, “maybe because she saw me first. Anyway I'm taking care of her. I think Cooper is quite happy about it. He likes anything that keeps me off the streets.”

“You do have a tendency to get into trouble,” Kurt said.

“Oh, not you too,” Blaine said, although he was smiling, showing that he took it lightly. “So... what have you been up to? I haven't seen you in a while.”

Kurt was taken aback at the question, although he really should have expected it. “I do have other things to do than hang around you guys,” he said eventually.

Blaine shrugged. “I wasn't doubting you know how to spend your time. It's just... things got a bit awkward the last time we saw each other. I wouldn't want you to think you'd have to stay away because of that. We're friends, and I don't want that to change. And... we're okay, right?”

Kurt found himself nodding. “Of course we are,” he said. “Although I was a bit worried...”

“You don't need to be,” Blaine said. “Let's just forget it and move on. We are friends, and that isn't going to change. So you don’t need to be hiding in your crypt or whatever it is you've been doing... you can come back out and play again.”

“I do have other friends, you know?” Kurt said, although he didn't expect the lie to be taken seriously. He usually stayed away from attachments, seeing how badly those had worked out for him so far.

Blaine looked at him with hesitation before he spoke. “Like Sebastian?”

Kurt's hand clenched on instinct, bunching up a bit of the unicorn's fur and making it retreat. Of course that was where this conversation was going... He should have known. “We're not exactly friends,” Kurt said, trying not to glare at the boy.

“So... have you heard from him lately?” Blaine asked. His nonchalance was very well played but Kurt could still see through it.

“No,” he said, gritting his teeth. “I haven't heard from him since his last visit here. So no change since the last time you asked.”

“Oh, right,” Blaine said, stroking through the unicorn's fur. From the sound of his voice, he seemed content with the news, although now Kurt wasn't sure if it was real or an even better act. “Well, can't be helped. I'm sure he'll get in contact with you at some point.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Can't wait for it,” he said sarcastically.

“Anyway, what about you? Will we see more of you again?” Blaine asked.

“Yes, sure,” Kurt said. “I mean... if you have something to do for me....Something I'd be interested in. I don't actually care about your little missions and hunts and whatever.”

“Kurt?”

“Hm?”

“You don't have to do your 'I'm cooler than you' act anymore – at least not with me,” Blaine said. “You can pretend all you want, but I know that you care.”

Kurt looked at him in disbelief. How did this boy do it all the time, finding the words that would just stun him? “Believe what you want,” he said, but the words were anything but convincing.

Blaine shook his head in exasperation, although Kurt thought he could see some fondness in there. “Alright, tough guy, as you wish. Now come help me feed my pet baby unicorn.”


	3. Chapter 3

“I can't believe we're having to do this,” Cooper grumbled, and Blaine could have sworn he saw his brother kick against a fence. “There are no new cases, there's nothing going on at the moment... I don't know what Sue's deal is, why can't we just all mind our own business and meet up again when there's actually something to deal with?”

“Well, there is the unicorn that came out of nowhere,” Blaine said.

“It's a baby unicorn. That's not a threat, that's the start of a supernatural petting zoo,” Cooper said dismissively.

“I'd like to know where she's from,” Blaine said.

“Then go meet up with Tina and see if she found something out already,” Cooper said. “No need to drag everybody else into this.”

“Why are you so cranky lately?” Blaine asked. “Is this still about the plot of your story? Look, if this part isn't working, then maybe you should just take it out-”

“It's _not_ about the book! It's about Sue – like every other watcher in this goddamn world – believing there is nothing more important in anybody's life than following her every order!  All the time it's 'focus on slaying', or 'you're the chosen one', or telling me that I can't have a life. Well, maybe I want one. Has anybody ever thought of that? I get that _you_ have nothing better to do, that it's all some sort of adventure to you, but  I'm actually getting a bit tired of this.”

Blaine frowned. “You don't have to take this out on me,” he said. “ You love this, even when you're tired of it. You couldn't stop if you tried. ”

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Cooper said, rolling his eyes. “Can we just get this over with?”

“Sure,” Blaine said. He wasn't sure what was going on lately. He wasn't used to Cooper snapping at him like this, but it had happened  more and more . It wasn't just Cooper, though...

When they arrived almost everybody was already waiting in Sue's office. Tina was sitting cross legged on the floor, reading in a heavy-looking tome and ignoring everybody else, but from her expression alone Blaine could tell that she wasn't happy to be here. Sam was busy playing with a hand-held, occasionally looking up to where Santana was sitting in Brittany's lap and glaring at the girls. Sue was dressed in her usual red track suit and yelling at someone on her cell phone. There was no trace of Kurt, but Blaine hadn't really expected to see him. He should be fine with this. They had just established that things were okay between them. Kurt didn't need Blaine to start pining for him. Blaine didn't mean to pine anyway. There was no reason, the kiss must have been an anomaly.

The noise of Sue's phone crashing against the window broke him out of his thought. Wide-eyed, he looked around to see what was going on, but apparently Sue had just found a creative new way to end the call. She then turned around to face everybody else.

“Oh, the slayer himself deigns to grace us with his presence. About time! The world can't wait for you to get over your writers' block, you know?”

“The world was doing just fine,” Cooper gritted. “And don't try to distract us, what was  _ that _ all about? What inspection? Who were you talking to?”

Blaine's eyes widened. This sounded serious... maybe he had gotten a bit too distracted, thinking about Kurt... he should really stop doing that.

Sue showed her best vicious glare, which did not only send shivers down everybody's spine but that Blaine had seen intimidate a minor demon lord. “I'm sorry, it seems the trivialities you keep writing about have climbed off the page, and through your ears in that ridiculously spacious brain cavity of yours, taking root in the last bits of functional gray matter you still have at your disposal. I was obviously talking to the Watchers' council.”

“They're not going to send somebody here again, are they?” Santana asked.

“I don't mind,” Brittany said with a shrug. “They only look to see if the iron is still in and go.”

“Well, _I_ mind them being here,” Santana snapped. “You may be fine with them wanting to inspect everything and sit in judgment over everybody else, but I'm sick of them prodding me.”

“Actually, this time it's about neither of you ladies,” Sue said, “this is all thanks to our dear Slayer's stellar performance during the last few crises.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Cooper asked.

“It means that you've neglected your task. If you can't handle your little hobby beside your destiny, then maybe you should check your priorities.”

“It's not a hobby, it's my  _ job _ !” Cooper said.

“Please, I put down more literary value every day by writing in my diary,” Sue said. “As far as your slaying goes, the council hasn't been too thrilled with the last reports, and they're considering to send somebody here for an inspection. And don't look at me like that, do you think I want those bumbling morons messing up everything I built?”

Cooper rolled his eyes. “Gee, I sure hope you didn't anger them by insulting them, belittling them, oh and hanging up mid-sentence by smashing the phone against a window. Can't see that having a negative effect at all!”

“Will you all SHUT UP?!”

Everybody turned around when Tina started yelling. She was still sitting on the ground, but she had stopped reading in the book. “I'm trying to read here! If anybody remembers, a unicorn foal turned up out of nowhere, we don't know why, we don't know if its mother is around... but apparently I'm the only person who cares about finding out something about that!”

“I care,” Blaine said, his own annoyance growing.

“Sure, Blaine,” Tina huffed, “you care about everything. Doesn't change the fact that I don't see you researching with me!”

“Excuse me? I offered, and you literally kicked me out of your room,” Blaine said.

“He's right, you're  _ scary _ when you're researching. I wouldn't even dare to go near your room when you get like that,” Sam said. “Is this some PMS thing or-”

“Ex _ cuse _ me?!”

Sam blanched at the twin glare he got from both Tina and Santana, while Brittany seemed to have gotten awfully distracted by a fly sitting on the wall. Blaine just wanted to gently remind Sam to try and be more tactful, when he saw the faery smash the fly with her bare palm.

“What are you doing?” Santana asked.

“It was in my space and I didn't like it,” Brittany said, glaring at the spot where the fly had been – ignoring the tiny cracks that had appeared in the wall.

“Well, Santana, I have a suggestion for you,” Sue said. “Maybe as a semi-slayer you could actually manage to keep a better grip on your pet and make sure she doesn't destroy my office?”

“That's my girlfriend you're talking about!” Santana snapped.

“I'm sorry, did I miss some miracle that turned her into a real girl?” Sue asked. “As far as I'm concerned, she's a loan from the faery queen – not that we'd asked for it, but I'm not going up against her again.”

“Right, cause you were so successful the first time,” Cooper said rolling his eyes.

“Um... do we have to be here for this?” Sam asked.

“Good question,” Blaine muttered.

“Technically, I don't need any of you here, except Anderson the elder. I don't even know what the rest of you are doing here.”

“It's because we're a team,” Blaine said. “And the part about the inspection is important to all of us.”

“Well, thank you, Mr. Narrator,” Santana said, “what would we ever do without you?”

“You don't need to be so mean to everybody,” Sam said, “seriously, what is your problem? I really thought once you got a girlfriend you would stop being such a raging bitch, but actually I'm starting to think you're getting worse!”

“Well maybe if you could stop mooning over said girlfriend, I didn't have to!” Santana shouted back.

Brittany looked up, her expression much too happy. “You think he likes me?”

Blaine held his breath, but Santana seemed so taken aback that she didn't even yell at anyone.

“We could have a movie night, all three of us,” Brittany added.

Sam now looked completely terrified.

“You know what? I'm done with his.”

They all looked to Tina,  as she gathered her book in her arms and got up.

“You're wasting not only my time but also all of yours. What are you even doing? We're supposed to save the world, you people have so many talents, and you just don't do a damn thing! I'm sick of you – all of you! Just think what I could get done if I wasn't always weighed down by your ridiculous squabbles? Just... UGH!”

She rushed out of the door, slamming it behind her.

Blaine couldn't help but feel relieved that at least her dramatic exit had ended whatever disaster had started to brew between Santana, Brittany and Sam...

“Well, _that_ was unnecessarily diva,” Cooper said, as he looked after her with a frown.

“Speaking of diva,” Sue started.

“You know what? I think Tina had the right idea,” Cooper said. “Come on, Blaine, we're leaving. And you!” He turned to Sue. “You can call me when you calmed down from whatever ridiculous power trip you're on now.”

He was half out the door by the time Blaine had gotten with the program and started following him. He looked back at his friends, seeing that everybody else was getting up, too.

He didn't like it. Things had become so tense between them, when they should work as a team... Maybe they were just spending too much time together, though. It could be good for them if they had some time apart to focus on something else, especially now when things were so quiet apart from the unicorn foal.

At least he hoped so.

* * *

Blaine knew that it was dangerous running around Sunnydale at night, at least on his own. But he had to get out, get away from his brother and his so-called friends right now. What he had wanted to do was to stay with Amalthea, just take care of her, and forget what was going on. But there  _was_ something going on, which was always a bad sign in Sunnydale, and right now, his brother didn't seem up for the task – whatever it might be. No matter how much Blaine wanted to hide from it, he had taken responsibility here.  H e couldn't indulge in escapism, he needed to do something. And the first step for that was to find the allies he still had. He hoped whatever had affected his brother and friends hadn't taken hold of Kurt, too.

The closer he got to the cemetery, the more worried he got. He didn't visit Kurt very often at his refuge.  T he old ground-keeper’s house was probably the safest corner there was... but it was still close enough to the rest of the vampires living in the cemetery, and Blaine was aware how dangerous that was for a human. It was the reason he only came here alone during the day. But this was an emergency. He just hoped that he would get to Kurt before any other vampire came across him...

The small cabin was almost in sight when he heard the sounds of a fight, accompanied by hissing that could only come from vampires.

He shouldn't be here. He should turn around, stay with Amalthea and make sure she was safe, not stay here and get killed by vampires...

But there was a shout, and he recognized Kurt's voice.

T he thoughts about his unicorn disappeared, as Blaine started to run without another conscious thought. Now,  even with his weak human eyes, he could see that Kurt was fighting three other vampires. They had to be young, they were way too slow to deal with Kurt, but it was still three to one. Blaine took hold of one of the stakes he always carried with him on Cooper's insistence. He knew that he wasn't a match for even one young vampire, but he was sure he could help at least with a surprise attack – at least enough for Kurt to finish the fight.

As he approached, he could see Kurt getting a hold of one of the younger vampires. He held the creature close and turned, using the vampire to kick the other two and get them to a safe distance, and then he tore the head of. Blaine flinched at the sound, then watched the vampire crumble to dust. One of the younger vampires turned around and ran, the last lunged at Kurt. There was some fighting, and Blaine hurried to approach. As Kurt held the thing in a lock, Blaine jumped forward and plunged the stake into the creature's heart. There was a scream, and then it too, fell together into a pile of dust.

Blaine looked up, grinning at Kurt. He had hardly done anything, but the fight had worked out really well. But there was something off in the way Kurt looked back at him. Blaine would have expected happiness, or maybe annoyance, or okay, some exasperation... but Kurt looked at him with rage waving off him. On instinct, Blaine stepped back slowly as if from a wild animal.

The next second, Kurt lunged at him, throwing him against the nearest tree, gripping his shoulders and glaring at him.

Blaine gasped, staring at him in terror. Usually, when they were close, he felt drawn to Kurt's eyes, but right now he saw nothing but the vampire fangs.

“What is _wrong_ with you!?” Kurt hissed. “You do NOT come to the cemetery at night, you do NOT interrupt a fight between vampires! Haven't you learned anything in your time here? Do you want to die, is that it? Or do you just enjoy having me or your brother worried _sick_ about you!?”

Blaine stared at him, not quite understanding what was going on. Kurt was glaring at him full of fury, gripping his shoulders so hard that they were hurting... but the words were of concern, not threatening.

“You _always_ do that,” Kurt shouted, “do you have any idea how sick of this I am? I was _fine_ before I met you. And now you keep getting yourself into trouble and I have to get you out again. I can't sleep sometimes, thinking what kind of trouble you're in when I wake. But do you care? Of course you don't!”

“Will you calm down?” Blaine asked, trying not to show how scared he was. “And let go, you're hurting me.”

“You think this is me hurting you?” Kurt shot back. “You have no idea what I could do to you, have you? How I could make you scream? But you don't care for that either... You run around like you're invincible, and it's pissing me off.”

Kurt's claws were starting to protrude, and Blaine knew that they were right now piercing the fabric of his shirt and the skin beneath.  The f ear was  bubbl ing  up  in side him,  too strong to hide . Kurt was acting so strange, and what would happen if the smell of blood was added?

But as he finally looked up into Kurt's eyes, Blaine noticed something else.

“Be still”, he said, and ignoring the anger, the fear and the pain in his shoulders, he reached out with his hand for Kurt's left eye. The vampire moved back, but he couldn't get more distance between them without letting go of Blaine's shoulders, which he seemed incapable of.

There was something white, almost like a sting, coming right through Kurt's lower lid. Blaine pinched his fingers, got hold of it, and then he pulled.

Kurt flinched, but the anger that had been waving off him, started to fade, replaced by confusion.

Now that Blaine knew what to look for, he could see another one piercing through Kurt's upper lip, and as he turned, there was one more in his right hand near his thumb. Blaine used the moment of Kurt's confusion and pulled out those stings as well.

“How do you feel?” he asked softly.

Kurt looked at him in confusion, but slowly, he seemed to get back to reality. “I... I don't know,” he said, “I've... I've been so angry... that's why I picked a fight with those morons...”

“You attacked them?” Blaine asked. “I can't believe you call _me_ careless. You realize they're only looking for a good excuse to attack you, right?”

Kurt snorted. “I think I can handle a few of these knuckleheads.”

“They outnumber you, Kurt. Even you can't take an infinite number of vampire, even if they're weaker than you,” Blaine said. “Do you really have to actively provoke them?”

“I don't usually do that,” Kurt said. “I've just felt... strange. It must have been those things, I feel much calmer now. So... what is it?”

Blaine frowned, looking at what he held in his hands. They looked like impossibly thin, white needles. Carefully, he touched his own palm with one of them, but instead of piercing the skin, it just bowed.

“I don't think I've seen something like this before,” Kurt said. “What is it?”

But Blaine had seen it before – on his clothes, his hands... Softly, he plucked one of Kurt's hands of his shoulders, and put the thing against his skin. Where on Blaine's hand it had bent, for Kurt it went right into his skin. Even this little was enough for Kurt's muscle to contract, for his whole demeanor to go a bit  tense . With a sigh, Blaine pulled it out again and held it in front of his eyes.

“Blaine, what is it?” Kurt asked.

Blaine closed his eyes, leaning back against the tree. “It's hair,” he said. His voice sounded as exhausted as he suddenly felt.

“Hair?” Kurt repeated.

“Unicorn hair,” Blaine said.

“Are you sure?”

Blaine sighed. “I've seen a lot of it lately,” he said, “trust me, I know what it is.” He opened his eyes again, to see Kurt frowning at him.

“So... are you saying your baby unicorn has... I don't know, poisoned me with her hair?”

“Not only you,” Blaine said. “ _Everybody_. They're all fighting each other... Sue and Cooper, Brittany and Santana... everybody is yelling at each other and fighting. I didn't think about it before... but I think it started when Amalthea appeared.”

“Why aren't you affected?” Kurt asked. “The... hair, it doesn't work on you.”

“I don't know,” Blaine said. “I didn’t even know something was wrong with her... I don't understand. Do you... do you think it could be a coincidence?”

Kurt looked at him with an expression very akin to pity. “I don't think there are many coincidences in Sunnydale,” he said. “Especially not when supernatural creatures are involved.” He hesitated, before he continued. “I'm sorry.”

Blaine shook his head. “Don't,” he said. “Let's just focus on what we do now.”

“Has Tina found out anything about unicorns so far?” Kurt asked.

“I... actually don't know,” Blaine said, “she wasn't really cooperative the last time I met her... but let me call her.”

As Blaine took out his phone, he noticed that Kurt's other hand still rested against his skin, now softly cupping his upper arm. It was a bit cool, even through the fabric, but he found he didn't mind. It felt comforting.

“She's not answering her phone,” Blaine said eventually. “But that happens sometimes, especially if she's engrossed in research.”

“You kids and your smart phones,” Kurt muttered. “I suggest we do this the old-fashioned way.”

“And what would that be – grandpa?” Blaine asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Kurt  raised an eyebrow . “I suggest we pay Miss Cohen-Chang a little visit.”


	4. Chapter 4

The moon threw Sunnydale's streets into a pale light. It was a familiar sight from Cooper's bedroom window, and one that he was well used to. He was just standing there, looking out onto the town he had sworn to protect.

Why Sunnydale? He hadn’t grown up here, he had no attachment to his place. And yet, Sunnydale had become his fate. Because he was the slayer, because of destiny, because of the hell mouth... he could never leave this place.

Was it worth it?

All those years ago, when he had started his work as the slayer, he had known that this would be his fate – that this would be his grave. It was really a miracle that he had survived this long. There weren't many fates more lethal than that of the slayer. And he had done lots of good, saved more lives than he could count, defeated monsters and villains, and had prevented an all-out-end-of-the-world apocalypse twice so far. He had saved the world, had done so much good...

And where had it gotten him?

He was still chained to this town, trying to squeeze in as many good deeds as he could before being the slayer would inevitably get him killed. He had lost the first woman he really loved, because she had had the option of a better life and he hadn't been brave enough to follow her. And his brother, the only person in his family he really cared about, felt the need to stay here by his side, probably until one of them died.

It wasn't fair. Why did it have to be him? He had never asked for this, had never wanted these powers. How had he been chosen anyway? All he wanted was to be free, but apparently, that was too much to ask. Hell, it was too much to ask for as much as some time to follow his actual job, at least according to Sue.

It was infuriating. Cooper had always tried to do what's right, to follow the greater good. And where had it gotten him? Stuck in this literal hell-hole, dragging down with him anybody who trusted him and wasn't smart enough to get away fast enough. He was sick of it. He hated Sunnydale, and the monsters, and demons, and vampires... Well, Kurt was alright, most of the time, and useful in looking out for Blaine... but then again, if it wasn't for the whole slayer thing, Blaine wouldn't even need people looking out for him.

If Cooper could just leave this damn place...

But that was impossible. He was the slayer, he couldn't just leave his responsibility. There would always be monsters and demons. Although, of course, sooner or later those were going to kill him and then he couldn't help anybody either. So if he left, then technically, he would just speed along the plan of the universe....or something along those lines.

Sue would never let him get out of here. Of course she wouldn't, she wouldn't even let him have a life. Probably because she didn't have one. She had nobody anyway. Cooper had never seen her with friends or family, she didn't even get along with the Watchers' council. Then again, nobody could honestly get along with those bastards, not the ones Cooper had met as least.

Sue lived for destroying demons, or maybe just for the destroying part. Was that the woman Cooper wanted to run his life?

He thought of Quinn, her sharp wit and quick humor, how she could be soft and gentle, but hard as diamond in the next second. She had been a powerful witch, a great friend, an amazing girlfriend. And now? A wonderful mother, he was sure of it.

And he had let her go.

How stupid had he been, to let go the perfect woman because he couldn't stand up to Sue Sylvester?

He had sacrificed enough for that woman and her ridiculous council. He was done giving up his own dreams and hopes for the future, just because they needed soldiers to die in their war. He was through with them!

...He was through with them.

The thought scared Cooper to the bone, but the anger he had felt rushed through his head at this, burning through him with the certainty that this was the right decision.

He was done with the watchers, he was done with Sue, and he was going to tell her, right now. He'd tell his watcher to get lost, and then he'd be out of here in a heartbeat. Let them find another slayer, let Santana or whoever wanted to take over.

Cooper was done. 

* * *

 The dorm Tina lived in was one of the older ones on the Sunnydale campus. Most students preferred the more modern dorms, but Tina loved the old building's atmosphere, as well as the luxury of having less company and no room mate. It was also conveniently close to the cemetery, and so it didn't take long for them to reach it. Of course, that brought them to another problem...

“So, just to make sure I got this right – when you said _we_ pay Tina a little visit, you meant to say _I_ do that?”

Kurt shrugged, and didn't even look the least bit uncomfortable. “I can't enter the college dorms, Blaine. What do you expect me to do?”

“I thought you don't need an invitation for public buildings,” Blaine said. “Or don't the dorms count for that?”

“They do, technically,” Kurt admitted, “but Cooper had Quinn put a spell around them to keep out vampires. It's the same spell that's over your house, actually. So... your on your own here.”

“Great,” Blaine said, looking at the building as if it was a haunted castle. “I have a bad feeling about this. What if I need your help?”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “I'll be underneath her window. Just jump out, I'll catch you.”

“This isn't funny,” Blaine said. “You haven't met Tina when she's angry, have you? She can be scary.”

“Scarier than a pissed off vampire?” Kurt asked, arching one of his eyebrows.

Blaine sighed. “Touché,” he said. “Alright, I'll see you soon. Try not to be seen, please. You may think Angry Tina isn't scary, but I have a feeling even you don't want to run into Angry Sue.”

That at least was enough to pierce through Kurt's cool attitude. Happy enough with this small victory, Blaine turned around and entered the building.

When he had gone to college in New York, he had lived in the dorms himself. There had been much better security (as in, there actually _was_ any security), but this was Sunnydale after all. He couldn't expect too much. And at least it had some supernatural security...

As he made his way through the building, he realized how quiet it was, even for this dorm. But the closer he came to Tina's room, the more Blaine noticed something was... maybe not wrong, but definitely unusual. He could hear weak noises, like the bubbling of boiling water, the hissing of steam, and a low, deep voice. There was a smell, too, that made Blaine shudder. Why did witchcraft come with so many horrible smells?

It was strange, though, for Tina to just brew something in her dorm... she was usually more careful to hide her talent. But then again, nobody was acting rationally lately.

Gathering his courage, Blaine knocked at Tina's door. He waited for a moment, but there was no reaction, just the same noise and chanting there had been before. With a sigh, he knocked again, but there was still no reaction.

Only one thing to do. He opened the door to enter the room.

He wished he hadn't, if only for the smell that hit him. He also had to blink against the vapors filling the room, before he could get a closer look.

Somehow, Tina had managed to put a cauldron on her hot plate. Whatever she was brewing, it produced a thick, purple haze that made everything look unreal. On instinct, Blaine looked up to the ceiling where the fire alarm should have been, but apparently Tina had taken it off.

Speaking of Tina, she was kneeling in front of the cauldron, several thick tomes around her, and smelled whatever she was brewing. Then she scribbled something in a notebook, took something out of a box that Blaine hoped didn't actually still move, and threw it into the cauldron.

“Tina?” he asked. “What are you doing?”

She looked up, her eyes almost as wild as Kurt's had been before, and Blaine could see something thin and white in them, still a stark contrast to her dark eyes.

“What I'm doing?” Tina asked. “What the hell are _you_ doing? I don't remember inviting you in here, Blaine!”

“That's vampires,” he said, “I can just come in. And I did knock.”

“Right, vampires, and you're the expert on them,” Tina huffed. “Does your brother know just how much you care about vampires?”

Blaine carefully stepped closer, trying to peer into the cauldron. He wasn't completely sure, but now that he slowly got over how awful that smell was, it started to seem a bit familiar. He shuddered, looking up at his friend.

“Listen, Tina, we don't have time for this,” he said, trying to reason with her. “I know what's going on here...”

“Well, isn't it obvious?” Tina asked. “Everybody's fighting. Do you know how exhausting that is? But I'm just Tina, I'm just the witch who does the research everybody wants, and casts the spells to save everybody in the nick of time, and brews potions, and finds the weak spots and is basically the single reason you morons are still alive. Not that anybody would appreciate it.”

“Of course we appreciate it,” Blaine said. This was worse than he had imagined.

“Really? I don't think you do!” Tina yelled back. “Because you keep busy with your own struggles, you never focus on what's really important. To your brother, I'm just the less talented, less pretty, less wonderful sequel to Quinn! And you? You go and moon over a vampire, when there's a perfectly lovely girl just waiting for an opportunity to share her love with you!”

Now Blaine really wished he was anywhere but here. “Tina... you don't know what you're talking about,” he said. “You're not yourself right now. It's Amalthea, I don't know how, but she's....”

“Oh, sure, you can love a freaking _unicorn_ , and a _vampire_ , but what, a witch is too normal for you?”

“Um... I'm _gay_ , Tina,” Blaine said.

“And I'm _pissed_! But guess what, Blaine? I don't need any of you. I don't need Sue to tell me what monsters to fight, I don't need Quinn to be the perfect idol that I could never reach anyway, I don't need Santana to make fun of me, I don't need your brother to be a complete fool while everybody thinks he's a hero. And I don't need you and your goddamn vampire boyfriend. I'm better than this, and when I'm done here, everybody will see!” She turned back to her cauldron and threw in more herbs that Blaine didn't recognize.

What he did start to recognize, though, was the smell of the potion.

“Tina... what is this?” he asked, coming closer. Under the purple haze, he could see a liquid that was almost red as blood.

“This is exactly what I need to become the hero I know I can be,” Tina said, throwing more herbs in as she walked around the cauldron in a circle.

A cold shudder ran down Blaine's spine, and he too circled the potion, trying to keep the same distance to the witch. “Tina... is this... is this what they did to Santana?”

“Did to her... They didn't do anything to her, she knew exactly what was going to happen,” Tina said. “Once this potion is complete, I will have the powers of the slayer, and I can promises you one thing, Blaine – I will not waste them like your brother and Santana. I will be a slayer the world can be proud of. Strong and smart.”

“You can't brew that potion,” Blaine said. “That recipe was destrpyed, you can't have remembered that. And it's dark magic. You can't be a hero and use dark magic. And you don't have the devices!”

“End justifies the means, Blaine,” Tina said. “And I don't need the device. All I need is the potion, and I saw the recipe back then. With the right magic, you can bring back some of the faintest memories. But you have no reason to be afraid. I'm doing something good here. You should be grateful. Not that I'm expecting you to... But actually, now that I think about it, I'm glad you're here.”

“Why's that?”

Her face grew hard and cold as she looked at him, and it made Blaine step backwards – closer to the window now.

“I'm missing an important ingredient for this to work,” Tina said.

Blaine gulped. “Essence of a slayer,” he said. He remembered that night, how scared he had been for Cooper... “But I'm not a slayer...”

“You're the slayer's brother. It's probably close enough,” Tina said.

Blaine took another step back, away from the cauldron and away from his witch friend. “This isn't actually you, Tina,” he said. “I know you feel angry, and restless, but there's actually something you can do against it. But first, you have to stop brewing this potion, and calm down.”

“Why? Are you afraid that I might actually do something good, unlike the rest of you?” Tina asked. “I'm tired of being a second-tier, Blaine. And this will change tonight.” She smiled at him, and it might be the scariest thing he'd seen today – including an angry vampire.

Tina's gaze fell, and Blaine's eyes followed. There was a knife near the cauldron. They both looked up again and their eyes met for a second... then Tina dove for the knife, as Blaine lunged forward to the window. He fiddled too long with the handle, but then it flew open. Blaine wasted a second to look back, to find Tina running at him with the knife drawn. He had to get away. But before he could make a definite choice to jump, Tina was too close. The moon's reflection flashed at him from the knife as she lunged it at him, and on instinct, he moved backwards. He lost his balance, and the next thing he knew he was faling, a scream tearing from his throat, mixing with Tina's voice. 

* * *

 Santana had always had a tendency to get anxious when she didn't have a plan on what to do. That slight tendency had gotten much worse since she had received her powers. She had sometimes considered asking Cooper if he was dealing with similar problems. But it had become hard to sit still for too long, especially if she had time to think. There were only a few things that calmed her down. One of them was fighting evil, and the other thing was Brittany.

Usually.

Brittany was a revelation, a miracle she never would have believed in. But she had come here from another world, and stayed for Santana's sake. Nobody had ever done that for her. She hadn't been that important to anyone, not even her own family. Having a faery for a girlfriend had helped her so much to come to terms with her own freakish-ness.

That was why it had become harder and harder to realize that this whole world including Santana might not be much more than an extended vacation for Brittany.

She was so restless that she wanted to pace through her dorm. Instead she sat in her armchair, clutching onto Brittany's stuffed Nemo toy as if she wanted to squeeze juice from it.

Not that it impressed Brittany. The faery was staring at a fly crawling over the wall, clearly ignoring Santana's mood.

“What is it with you and insects anyway?” Santana asked, trying to keep the poison out of her voice. It was at least partially successful.

“They're amazing,” Brittany said, hardly paying attention. “So tiny... at home, they are huge and we ride on them. I had a pet dragonfly, it got me everywhere. But then it died, or went into a coma or something. I miss him.”

“Then why don't you go find a new dragonfly?” Santana asked, now not quite as successful at keeping the anger out of her voice.

Brittany turned and looked at her with a puzzled look on her face. “Did you notice that Sam was totally right?” she asked.

“I don't want to hear that name!”, Santana yelled, throwing the toy across the room. It banged against the window, fortunately not breaking it.

“But he is right,” Brittany said, ignoring her anger. “They told me how angry you used to be, and since we got together, I thought you were doing better. But lately, you've become just as angry. I don't understand.”

“I deserve to be angry!” Santana said. “I never wanted these powers, I had no idea what I was getting into, and now my whole life is screwed up. You are the one good thing that has happened to me, and how long are you even going to stay here? You keep talking about the faery realm, I know it's just a matter of time until you leave me, just like everybody else!”

Brittany tilted her head, the puzzled look now morphing into confusion. “Your family is in Ohio where you left them,” she said. “And you have friends who love you just as you are. And me, I do that too. Everybody is just waiting for you. Why are you pushing us away all the time?”

“I'm pushing you away?” Santana asked. “You keep waxing poetics about how much you miss your home, and how much better everything was, and I'm pretty sure that earlier you suggested a threesome with Sam Evans!”

“You never suggest anything,” Brittany said. “At least Sam has fun, you're always angry, it's exhausting. My family at home is angry too. Why do you think I wanted to get away from there? But if all you can give me is more of the same, then maybe I shouldn’t stay here.” For a moment after she finished that sentence, she looked almost scared at her own words.

But even if she didn't mean it, it was exactly what Santana had been waiting for. What else could it be? When had she ever been good enough?

“Well, then what are you waiting for?” Santana asked, her voice filled with ice cold anger. “Get the hell out of my room!”

“I don't want to leave,” Brittany said.

Santana didn't want her to leave either, but right now, she couldn't stand a second more of this.

“Fine then, stay,” she found herself saying. “Just be gone when I come back!” She was fleeing from the room before she had even made a conscious decision to do so. She had to get away from it all, from Brittany, from her own fear, and from that anger, running like fire through her veins.

She had to get away.

* * *

 Kurt had gotten used to waiting during the last decades, but that didn't mean that he liked it. At least this time, there wasn't any actual urgency. Even if Blaine had a bad feeling, this wasn't an emergency. So everybody was a bit irritated and aggressive... but things could be worse. Kurt himself had felt so angry that he had attacked – but even he couldn't bring himself to actually hurt Blaine. He was confident that Tina wouldn't either.

Still, he wandered around the building and waited under what he suspected to be Tina's window. It wasn't hard to find, hers was the only window that seemed to be filled with purple light. If Kurt inhaled, he could actually smell the smoke of whatever she was boiling.

With a sigh, Kurt sat down in the grass of the dorms backyard, preparing himself to wait. Tina probably had some ideas that she and Blaine would go over. Or maybe she would take her research and they'd come out to involve Kurt into the discussion... Either way, he didn't expect anything to happen.

That was, of course, until he heard the sound of a window opening. On instinct, he jumped too his feet and looked up. Of course, it was Tina's window, and then he saw a figure in the window frame.

“Oh no, _please_ don't, I was _joking!_ ” But he could already see what was to happen. As Blaine fell from the windowsill, Kurt ran and jumped. Silently, he thanked the demons for vampire reflexes and speed, even as he lost the ground under his feet, and then he snatched the boy right out of his fall.

He landed in a crouch, holding Blaine in his arms. The boy stared at him, breathless and shaking. Before he could even ask what was going on, there was a scream.

“Oh my god, Blaine!”

Kurt whipped his head around. He saw Tina standing at the window, staring down. One hand was clasped over her mouth, the other one was limply holding a knife.

“What the hell?” Kurt asked.

“We should _go_ ,” Blaine said.

Kurt wasn't sure what was going on, but he decided not to argue. He held Blaine closer and started to run. They were almost to the other end of the campus until he slowed down again. Carefully, he put Blaine to his feet.

The boy was shaking, and even in the moonlight exceptionally pale. Kurt kept a hand on his hip to keep him steady, and maybe just slightly because he wanted to keep contact.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Um.. Tina isn't going to help us, she's kind of trying to become the next slayer,” Blaine said. “Well, kind of a slayer... like Santana. She's brewing the potion, and she figured I could stand in for the slayer whose powers she wants to absorb.”

Kurt frowned. “I don't mean to offend you... but you don't have any powers, and you're not a slayer, just the brother of one. I don't think it works like that.”

“Well, I'm not going back there to find out,” Blaine said. “By the way... thank you.”

Kurt looked him over more closely, to make sure Blaine was actually alright. He didn't seem to be injured, but of course like most people he was a bit distressed that his friend had attacked him, and he had fallen out of a third floor window.

“Are you okay?” Kurt asked.

Blaine hesitated, but then he shrugged. “I've had weirder things happen. Or maybe I'm still in shock. But... we should focus on figuring this out.” There was clearly something he was holding back, but this was not the time for it. They could talk later.

“We still need a witch to deal with this,” Kurt said. “If Tina is going so insane about this, then who else can we turn to?”

Blaine frowned. “We definitely need some reinforcements. We should go and see Sue.”

Kurt closed his eyes, imagining Sue under an anger curse. “I knew you'd suggest that,” he said.

“If you have a better idea...?” Blaine asked.

Kurt shook his head. “Fine, let's find her then.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm obviously not able to keep things short, or do regular updates... Anyway, have fun with the latest chapter. Should be one or two more in this story.

* * *

It was ridiculous how easy it was to break into the college buildings, but Kurt was used to this. The lights around them lit automatically as they walked past. The doors to Sue's office were closed, but there was also light inside, and more importantly, they could hear Sue swearing at someone. Blaine was hesitating in front of the door, but Kurt didn't have that much patience, so he walked past the boy, opened the door and stepped inside.

Sue was at the phone, still yelling. Kurt wasn't quite sure what she was talking about, but he caught enough of the conversation to figure out she was talking to the Watchers' council. Kurt suppressed a shudder. Now that was group of people he never wanted to get close to again...

“You know what?” Sue shouted. “How about you tell that to the little elves living in your hair, William? I have more important things to do!”

Sue threw the phone against her window with so much force that it broke. Kurt wondered just how many of those things Sue destroyed in one week, but the thought was gone the moment she turned and saw them.

“Well, well, well, if it isn't Slayer junior and his little pet project. Whatever gives me this honor?”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “We don't have time for your attitude, Sue.”

Blaine, of course, was trying to be more diplomatic. Apparently not even getting chased out of the window by a furious witch was enough to drive out his damn politeness.

“Sue, I know you're feeling unnecessarily aggressive and anxious, but there actually is a reason for this. It's not just you, it's almost everyone.”

“I don't get _unnecessarily_ aggressive, and I don't get anxious on principle,” Sue replied.

“It's the damn unicorn,” Kurt said. With Sue, it was easy to get lost in her insults and the ridiculous points she threw up, but he got the best results by cutting to the chase instead of playing her game. “She's infecting everybody with their hair, driving us insane and aggressive... except for Blaine, for some reason. Maybe so the damn thing has someone to look after her, I don't know.”

“The point is, we need to stop her before it's too late,” Blaine said. “But we can't figure out what she's planning, or what we're supposed to do...”

“Well, as far as I'm concerned, unicorns don't exist, and I have better things to do than hunt down mythical creatures. For example, hunting down that idiot brother of yours before he ruins more than just his own life.”

“Great, denial is going to help,” Kurt said, but Blaine wasn't paying attention. He had clearly latched onto something else Sue had said.

“What do you mean about Cooper? What is he doing? Is he alright?”

“He has come to the oh-so-original conclusion that life is unfair, or hard, or whatever you angsty teens call it these days, and now he wants to change it.”

“He should call up Tina for this,” Kurt said, still trying to get the conversation back on track. “Apparently, she'd love to relieve him off his powers.”

“What is he doing?” Blaine repeated.

“What do all young idiot wanna-be heroes do?” Sue asked. “He's trying to get the girl.”

“Quinn?”

“I assumed, although I wasn't paying that much attention,” Sue said. “Either way, he's on his way to the airport, and I would be on my way to get that idiot back if I didn't have to deal with even bigger idiots from the Watchers' council. Now that they've given up, though...” She threw a look at the broken cellphone lying in the corner. “You'll excuse me, I have a plane to stop.”

“Well, I can't say I particularly care about Cooper's doomed love life,” Kurt said. “But we have an actual crisis here. Everybody is losing their minds. Tina is trying to brew the slayer potion, and the devil knows what Santana or Brittany are up to. So I'm afraid your Quinntervention will have to wait until this chaos is taken care of.”

Sue glared at him with so much fierceness, that Kurt found himself almost taking a step back.

“Just to make this very clear, Cullen, while we appreciate your occasional help, you are not in charge here. I am. Do you know how many crises Sunnydale has to deal with in one week? Hell, not even our idiot slayer knows. I'm the one who deals with most of them. I'm the one who has to evaluate things, to figure out what is serious and what isn't. I think I have a better grasp on what exactly has the highest priority right now. And that's not a unicorn, and not a witch with a pathological inferiority complex. It's the slayer going through a way too early midlife crisis. So you can go hunt unicorns all you like. I have to force a complete idiot to see reason.”

“What are we supposed to do about Tina then?” Kurt asked.

But once again, Blaine was following a different script. “Is Cooper safe? Do you think he's in trouble?”

“He will be once I get my hands on him,” Sue replied, her voice dead serious.

“This is more important!” Kurt yelled.

Sue looked him up and down, as she slowly came closer. “And you think I, a watcher, will listen to the commands of a vampire?”

Kurt closed his eyes, tried to focus and calm down his own anger. He could imagine what fire was running through Sue's veins at the moment, had just escaped the same feelings a short time ago. Antagonizing her would not help.

But she didn't pay attention to him. “Now you will step out of my way and take care of whatever you're so concerned about. I do have priorities.”

There was a dangerous note in her voice, and Kurt almost stepped back on reflex. Blaine didn't have that instinct, apparently, or had possibly suppressed it, too worried about his brother. He actually approached Sue.

Even before she moved, Kurt knew that had been a big mistake.. He tried to call out, but Sue was faster. He couldn't tell whether it had been a push or a punch, but it sent Blaine sailing through the air, right at him. In a split second Kurt had to decide. He could have side-stepped – but he didn't move. Blaine hit him with enough force to make him tumble backwards. Kurt gasped, suppressing a yelp of pain, but he could catch the boy once more.

There was a crash of glass behind them, and Kurt caught a glimpse of Sue's red track suit as she apparently jumped out of the window. For a second he considered jumping after her. Scary as she was, she was still human and he would be able to catch up with her. It might be the smart choice, really. This was getting worse with every minute. There was the concern of letting Sue in her current aggressive mood out on the street, a completely different one that Cooper with his slayer powers and probably just as much anger was on his way to meet his ex girlfriend, not to mention a power hungry Tina and whatever was going on with Santana and Brittany.

Those were valid concerns, but right now it was hard to care about anything but the boy he was still holding.

Whatever protections Blaine had built against the night's events, this last attack had made him drop them. He was shaking slightly, his eyes wide in disbelief and shining. Even his breathing seemed troubled. The worst thing was the look in his eyes. He seemed almost defeated.

It was just wrong. Blaine was usually so hopeful and enthusiastic, which made the difference was even more jarring.

“I don't think we'll catch up to her,” Kurt said. “I can run fast, but I've seen her drive.” It wasn't completely true, but he wasn't going to leave now.

Blaine nodded, but Kurt wasn't sure whether he had even listened.

“Although...”, Kurt continued. “She might have a point, though. We don't know what exactly we're dealing with, and especially with Tina going crazy it might not be the worst thing to have the slayer on our side. If we manage to break him out of the influence of that thing...”

“No!” Blaine's answer was immediate.

“What do you mean?” Kurt asked.

“i don't want to go find Cooper,” Blaine said. “I don't want to see him until this is over.”

Kurt frowned. “But... he could help us, if we can-”

“I don't want to see my brother!”

Kurt's eyes widened as the boy pushed away from him, standing on his own feet again. There was a flash of despair in his eyes that Kurt couldn't quite place. Still, he raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

“Alright, fine, we're not going after him,” he said. “Just... why not?”

Blaine breathed deeply before he answered, and in those few seconds, he schooled his face back into a calmer expression.

“Tonight alone, I've been attacked by three people I trust. And it'ss all because of the machinations of a creature that I brought into our lives, because I though it was helpless and needed my protection. Just because I was naïve enough to believe in unicorns.” He sighed, closing his eyes. When he spoke again, his voice was soft, and raw as if he was seconds away from crying. “I'm barely holding it together, Kurt. And if Cooper turns against me... if Cooper hurts me... I just... I can't.” His voice broke on the last word.

Kurt couldn't help feeling guilty. He hadn't considered what it would be like for Blaine to have his friends turn on him. He hated being one of the people who had attacked him. Blaine was usually so confident and hopeful. How had Kurt never thought about how hard it could be sometimes to keep up that kind of attitude?

He put a hand onto Blaine's shoulder, trying for a gesture of comfort. But it wasn't enough. After a moment, Kurt put his arms around him in an embrace.

“I'm sorry,” he said. “You're right. When you get your brother back, it will be him, nobody else. I promise.”

Blaine's hands were clutching into his shirt, and his breathing was rough, but there were no sobs, no tears against the fabric.

“I can't do this,” Blaine whispered against his shirt.

Kurt sighed, holding him tightly against his chest. “You can,” he said. “You will. And I'm right here with you. We'll figure this out together. Okay?”

Blaine still needed a moment to collect himself. Eventually, he stepped back and looked up at Kurt. His face was dry, but he looked exhausted.

“It's my fault... and I have no idea how to fix this,” he said.

“It's not your fault,” Kurt replied. “And we'll find a way to fix this together. We just have to find out what's going on.” He frowned. “Of course, that's not going to be that easy without a witch, or a watcher, or a slayer... I guess we can try to talk to Brittany, maybe she can focus long enough to think of a way to defeat a unicorn, but... Blaine? Are you listening?”

Blaine's eyes had widened, and suddenly, his face had transformed, none of the defeat was seen. “What did you say?”

“Ask Brittany?” Kurt suggested.

“No. A witch!” Blaine said.

“Erm... our witch is going crazy and wants to siphon all your blood,” Kurt said.

“Tina isn't the only witch we know,” Blaine said, fishing his cellphone out of his pocket. “I'm calling in reinforcements.”

Kurt's eyes widened. “Who are you calling?” he asked.

Blaine stopped, and for a moment, he looked guilty. “I'm calling Quinn,” he said eventually. “I know, we said we wouldn't pull her back into this mess. But we need her, and if we don't solve this, Cooper will stand at her door step in a while, drugged on unicorn aggression juice. I'd rather leave her out of this, yes, but right now we endanger her more if we don't ask for her help.”

Kurt looked at him surprised, but he could see where Blaine was coming from. “Do you think she can help us over the phone?” he asked.

“I don't know,” Blaine said. “But its our best chance. And if she can't help us, then we can at least warn her.”

Kurt nodded. “Alright then. Quinn it is.”

* * *

The cold air didn't do much to cool Santana's temper. Clearly, she was an idiot that shouldn't be trusted with the responsibility over a pet rock, much less her own life. Who had ever gotten the idea that sshe could handle anything on her own?

She had told Brittany to leave. What on earth had she been thinking?

It wouldn't be nearly as bad if she could trust her girlfriend to see through her anger. She had thought Brittany could do that, but lately... lately all she talked about was the faery world.

It wasn't just the fear of losing her girlfriend to her home. Even in this world, there were enough things that could distract Brittany. She did have an extremely limited attention span. And Sam was just one of these possible distractions.

This was his fault, really. If he had kept his distance and didn't butt into other people's relationship...

Even now, Santana realized that Brittany held some responsibility here, too, but she couldn't deal with it right now. Brittany was different, she wasn't even human. Faeries had different ways of bonding, and she didn't see problems that human beings would – or at least people like Santana who'd been burnt too often before...

Sam on the other hand should know better than to try and steal her girlfriend. Damn, wasn't she the least bit scary anymore? She was used to people stepping back from her temper alone, and in most cases, her additional slayer powers had only aggravated that effect.

What did Sam even bring to the table except horrible hair and stupid impressions that nobody cared about? He had no power, no special knowledge, no vampire taming abilities. What was the point of him?

Santana shook her head. No, she was being irrational. She was part of this team, and it was one of the best things that had ever happened to her – even before she had met Brittany. This whole saving-the-world gig had worked out great for her. She liked being part of a group. It may not be her natural inclination, but it was... nice.

So she would calm down, walk, do nothing irrational and go back to her girlfriend. Then they'd talk quietly about their relationship. She could do that. There was a first time for everything.

After a few moments, she was calm enough to take out her phone and make a call. She knew she was too angry to be rational right now. She needed to hear her girlfriend's voice if she wanted to calm down.

She waited as patiently as she could, every single damn second until...

Voice mail. Now Brittany wasn't even answering her phone? How was she going to talk to her now? Sure, Santana could return to her dorm room, but how could she even know if Brittany was still there? Maybe she had already left...

Maybe she had gone to see Sam – or even worse, she was on her way back to the faery world.

Santana tried to calm herself down. Nothing was going on. Nothing horrible had happened. But still, it felt as if everything was slipping out of her hands, and that wasn't something she could deal with. She hated not being able to do anything. And if she couldn't get hold of Brittany, then what could she do?

Well, she may not be able to get hold of Brittany, but she could definitely get hold of Sam. Suddenly, it made sense. Taking out Sam might not guarantee hers and Brittany's relationship, but it couldn't hurt to take out any distractions.

Sam would regret the day he had messed with her life.

* * *

Blaine felt sorry for having to do this. But as he waited for the call to be answered, he knew that he didn't have much of a choice. With some more time, they could have found a way to research the unicorn. But time wasn't a luxury they had, and he wanted this sorted out before Cooper did something he would never forgive himself for.

Kurt was standing close, watching him. Maybe he was still worried, waiting for Blaine to freak out again. To be fair, that concern wasn't completely invalid. Blaine couldn't guarantee that he'd keep a cool head for the rest of the night. But now he had an idea on what to do. When this all was over... Blaine gulped, trying to suppress the new wave of despair. When this was over, he knew he was going to take a long hard look on the decisions that had brought him here. But right now, everybody was in danger because of him, and his blind trust that good thing happened and unicorns were real. His feelings of guilt would have to wait until the mess was taken care of.

“Hello?”

Blaine was surprised when his call was answered. For one, he had almost forgotten he was on the phone, lost in his thoughts. But most importantly, the voice that answered wasn't the one he expected. It sounded more like a little girl.

“Uh... who is this?” he asked.

“Who are you?” the little girl asked. “I'm not allowed to talk to strangers.”

Blaine frowned at Kurt. “Not Quinn”, he mouthed. He wondered whether he had gotten the wrong number, but then he realized.

“You must be Beth,” he said. “My name's Blaine, I'm a friend of your mom's. Could you get her to the phone?”

“I guess...” the girl said. “Quinn! Another crazy on the phone for you.”

Blaine waited a bit longer. He could hear the girl talking to somebody, although she must have put the phone down, as he couldn't understand the words. All he got was the tone of the conversation. It sounded warm and happy, and for a moment, Blaine considered to end the call and find another way... but there was no time, and for Cooper's sake he needed to fix this.

“Hello? Who is this?”

Blaine closed his eyes, steeling himself. “Hi Quinn, it's Blaine.”

There was a sigh of relief. “Blaine! It's really good to hear your voice.”

Blaine bit his lips involuntarily. “Yours, too.” It was true. Somehow, just listening to Quinn's voice made him feel calmer. He had always seen her as an older sister figure, even though she was only a year or two older than him. But when he had come to Sunnydale, she and Cooper had been a couple, and she had almost lived with them. She also had the ability to keep a cool head even in the worst of crises. Now that he thought about it, Blaine realized that a cool head was something they were missing dearly at the moment – not just tonight, but in general.

“I guess you already heard from Cooper?” Blaine asked. He couldn't imagine why else she would be happy to hear from him.

“I did,” Quinn said. “Is he alright? He sounded... weird. He said he was coming here, and that he is done with slaying, and then he went on about what he was going to do to Sue if she tried to stop him again. He didn't say what was even going on. I freaked out. I actually thought that something had happened to you. Why else would he go off like that?”

“A unicorn,” Blaine said. “But nobody's hurt, and I'm fine.”

“You don't sound fine,” Quinn said drily.

“Well... I'm not dead,” Blaine corrected himself. “But I need your help. Something's going on here... I found a creature... a unicorn. And somehow, it's manipulating everybody, makes them aggressive, angry. It got Tina and Sue, too, and from what I can tell everybody else, too. We don't know who else to turn to...”

“We?” Quinn asked. “There are people unaffected?”

“It didn't affect me,” Blaine said, “and I managed to free Kurt.”

“Good, he can keep you safe,” Quinn said. “Now tell me more about this unicorn. I didn't even know those were real...”

“They do exist in the fae world, Brittany told me,” Blaine said.

“Oh, the faery. I heard about her,” Quinn said. “But do they exist in our world?”

“Amalthea is real, so I'd say yes,” Blaine said.

“Alright,” Quinn said, and her voice was so calm, that Blaine felt immediately better. “Tell me everything you know.”

As he summed u what had happened so far, he watched Kurt, who was leaning against Sue's desk, eying it as if he was wondering whether it would be worth the risk to break it open.

When he finished talking, Quinn was quiet for a moment, before she spoke again. “I don't have as many books here,” she said, “but I did find a really good database, and I know a few people I could call... Send me a picture of your unicorn, I'll see what I can do and call you back. Just... are you safe? Is Kurt still with you?”

“He's here. I think we're safe at the moment,” Blaine said. “But Tina is working on that fake slayer ritual, so... the sooner the better.”

“Blaine?”

“Yes?”

“...am I safe?”

Blaine's first reflex was to say that of course she was safe, Cooper would never hurt her. But there was the matter of this weird unicorn possession. Just moments before, he himself hadn't wanted to see Cooper under that influence.

“I don't know,” he said eventually. “I don't really understand this. Maybe you want to relocate for a bit.”

“No,” Quinn said, “I definitely won't do that. I'm staying where I am. But I might send Beth off with her father.”

“Right,” Blaine said, “Beth. I talked to her.. She sounds brilliant.” He had known of course that Quinn had a daughter, but before, when Quinn was living with them, the child had never been an issue. She had lived with her adoptive mother, and Quinn had only a minimum of contact. That, of course, had changed under dramatic circumstances.

“Careful, Blaine, she'll have you wrapped around her finger in no time,” Quinn said. There was a note of warm and happy pride in her voice, that made Blaine smile. He hadn't imagined Quinn as a mother, more as a sister, but the role seemed to suit her. Then he realized something. “Is everything alright with you and her? It's just... she called you Quinn...”

“We're getting along really well,” Quinn said. “It's all been tough on her, she still misses Shelby like crazy. It's okay if she doesn't call me mom. I haven't been her mom, that was Shelby. I'm that strange woman that she only saw a handful of times, who one day showed up on her doorstep to take care of her. She's closer to Puck, really. He always tried harder to be part of her life. But we're making it work, one step at a time.”

“It sounds nice,” Blaine said.

He could hear the smile in her voice. “It is. But now let's focus on taking care of your unicorn, okay? Send me the picture, I'll see what I can do.”

Blaine knew that Kurt was still watching him as he ended the call and sent the picture he had saved of the unicorn to Quinn.

“That's it?” he asked, once Blaine pocketed the phone again.

“I told you these are practical,” Blaine said. He looked at Kurt's doubtful gaze and sighed. “Seriously, Kurt, just let me get you a phone?”

“How about we first concentrate on our current situation?” Kurt suggested. “You're not going back to that thing, not until we know what exactly we're dealing with.”

Blaine frowned. “Where am I supposed to go?” he asked. “If all my friends are dangerous...”

“Only those who've been in contact with that thing,” Kurt said. “Do you have any friends outside your brother's little gang?”

Blaine hated to admit that he actually needed a moment to think about that question. His brother's work was so important that he found most of his own time centered around it. Even when they weren't battling the forces of hell, he found himself spending most of his time with the rest of the gang, as Kurt called them. There were other students he got along with, but he wasn't especially close to most of them. He tried to think of somebody he could crash with.

“Well?” Kurt asked. “There has to be someone.”

“Won't I put them into danger?” Blaine replied.

“Nobody but me will know where you are,” Kurt said. “And we're not done for tonight. Just... call a friend, ask them if you can stay there later. I just want you to be safe when I can't be with you during the day.”

Blaine nodded, although he averted his eyes almost involuntarily. Kurt's concern for him sent a feeling of warm comfort through him. And yet, it made him feel even worse than before. Taking care of Amalthea had finally distracted him from his unfortunate crush. Now, it started to come back, or maybe he was just that desperate for some stability after tonight's events. Whatever it was, it had come at an inconvenient time. He and Kurt needed to work together in order to take care of the unicorn and everything connected to it. He couldn't afford to be distracted, especially not by something so stupid. He had to stop running after things that didn't exist.

It felt like he was on the edge of a discovery, almost at the point of understanding something important.

A hand on his arm made him flinch and look up. Kurt was standing right in front of him, looking at him intently and saying his name. Whatever he had been about to discover, he had lost the thought.

“Are you okay?” Kurt asked. There was an edge in his voice that Blaine couldn't quite place.

“Uh... yeah. Sorry. I was just... thinking,” Blaine said.

Kurt watched him carefully, as if he wasn't quite convinced of this. “It's been quite the night, hasn't it?” he asked after a moment.

Blaine shrugged. “It's Sunnydale,” he said with a shrug, as if that explained everything. And really, it usually did. But somehow, tonight it felt worse than usual.

“Come on,” Kurt said, and led him to the curtain at the back of Sue's office. He pulled it aside to reveal what looked like the most exquisite couch Blaine had ever seen. It was made of red velvet, buried in silken cushions. It looked ridiculously comfortable, and Blaine had real problems combining it with Sue's usual spartanic attitude.

“What is that?” Blaine asked.

“Sue is extravagant,” Kurt said shrugging. “Lie down, get some rest.”

“I can't,” Blaine protested. “We have to do something.”

“We have to wait,” Kurt replied. “Until we get news from Quinn, there's not much we can do. There's no point in running around in circles. So you get some rest, and if you have to do something, call up the rest of your friends, check up on them – and find somebody you can stay with.”

“What will you do?” Blaine asked, even as he moved to the couch.

“Sue's office is empty, and she won't be back for some time. This is the perfect opportunity to find the dirt she has on me,” Kurt said, looking around the shelves.

“Sue has dirt on you?” Blaine asked frowning.

“It's Sue Sylvester. She has dirt on anybody.”

Blaine nodded thoughtfully. That made a lot of sense, really. For a moment he wondered if she had any dirt on him, too. But he doubted he was important enough for that. He didn't need to be important, however, in order to check what was going on with his friends.

* * *

Even now that Kurt knew Sue wasn't coming back, it still felt weird to go through her things. She probably had a sixth sense and would know the second she stepped into the room that he'd been here. But right now, Kurt didn't care.

He hadn't found yet what he was looking for. There had been a few records on his past in her folders – something about his life as a human, a lot about the years he had spent running around with Sebastian and Hunter, two other vampires like him, in whose company he had done abominable things, hooked up on blood and immortality. They weren't pretty stories, and Kurt knew that he had done many things that he should be ashamed of. But his memory of those years had become hazy, and it was easier not to think too much about it.

He wondered whether he should read in more detail what Sue had found on him. He looked up from the folder and to the couch where Blaine had fallen asleep.

Something about this disturbed Kurt. Sure, the night had been stressful, and Blaine had been attacked by three friends so far. His attempts to contact anybody else had not been met with success. Nobody had answered his calls, Kurt guessed either because they were in trouble, were causing trouble, or were too angry at the world to answer the phone. Tina might even meet all three of these criteria. At least Blaine had found someone he could stay with while all this madness was going down. But he had been strangely subdued, and eventually had fallen asleep.

Kurt thought back to this night's events, trying to remember if Blaine had been this exhausted earlier, more tired than usual. He couldn't tell for sure. There had been that weird moment where Blaine had been so deep in thought that it had taken minutes to get his attention. It was the one thing Kurt could put his finger on. But even in general, something about the boy's behavior hadn't been quite right.

Unlike his own behavior, which currently consisted of watching Blaine sleep like a creepy stalker. Kurt shook his head and turned back to Sue's folders. He started leafing through it, just to have something else to focus on.

Almost at the edge of his perception, he read three words and almost dropped the folder. His eyes darted to the sleeping boy, and back to the paper. The words were still there.

Anderson, Blaine Devon.

Sue really did have dirt on everybody. Kurt hesitated. He could tell that there weren't many pages dedicated to him before the next entry about Cohen-Chang, Tina began. He could easily read it while they were waiting for Quinn to call. And really, how dark could Blaine's past be? Maybe reading this would help him understand the boy... But Kurt couldn't bring himself to turn over the page. It would be such a violation of trust...

Trust.

Suddenly it clicked, and he realized what had been wrong. If there was one thing he knew about Blaine, it was the absolute and blind faith he put into his brother. He'd follow Cooper to hell itself, always trusting that his brother would look out for him. Kurt knew short from straight up demonic possession, there was nothing in this world or any other that would make Cooper turn on his kid brother. And Blaine knew this as well. Tonight, Blaine had been afraid to even see Cooper.

Even as his theory was developing, Kurt knew that it didn't make complete sense yet. Even if Blaine didn't trust his brother right now, no matter how unusual that was, he hadn't been suspicious. He had walked into Tina's dorm room, albeit with a bad feeling, and it had been his idea to contact Sue and then Quinn. And more importantly, he had shown complete trust to Kurt. So Blaine wasn't paranoid. He wasn't aggressive, either. Had he really been himself, though?

Kurt put the folder away and slowly started to approach the couch. It was nothing, he tried to tell himself. So Blaine had doubted his brother under some kind of magical influence, and he was more tired than expected. He had zoned out for a few minutes before. It didn't mean anything.

But Blaine had spent more time with that thing than anyone else had. Kurt had only seen it once and had been infected. How could Blaine escape it?

He hesitated again when he arrived at the couch. Blaine was still sleeping. He looked so vulnerable, so young. Beautiful... But not peaceful. There was a frown on his face and he seemed to shiver, as if he was cold. Kurt sat down on the couch. He put a hand into Blaine's hair, to the curls that had escaped their gel prison. A part of him wanted to just let him sleep until Quinn had found a solution.

But he had to know.

With a sigh, he put his thumb unto Blaine's eyelid and carefully pulled it open, hoping not to wake the sleeping boy.

At first, Kurt saw nothing suspicious. There was the white eyeball, interrupted by a few red lines. Then, there was that familiar hazel ring, the golden flecks around the pupil. Still suspicious, Kurt opened the other eye. It looked fine, too. Then why did he feel like something was wrong?

For one, Blaine hadn't woken, just let everything happen. And also...

His pupil was wide. It had made sense outside, in the dark, for the pupils to be blown wide. But in the light of Sue's office, they should be smaller. And more importantly, they should have tightened while opening.

Kurt let the lid drop, and closed his own eyes for a moment, long enough to count to ten. When he opened his eyes, he put both his thumbs onto Blaine's lids and opened them. As the light hit them, the pupils remained as they were. And now, as Kurt stared at them, really focused onto the black, he saw it.

Tiny specks of white, not shining, almost transparent, and therefore hard to see. But once he'd seen the first, he saw more of them. They were countless, and when Kurt tried to pull something out, he realized that they had completely penetrated the pupil. It was impossible to take hold of them.

Kurt closed the lids, pulling back. He had been careless enough to believe Blaine was safe. He had been wrong.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go, penultimate chapter of this story. The last one might take longer, as I'm going abroad for a while.

* * *

Kurt groaned, glaring at the ridiculous plastic thing in his hands. No matter how often Blaine insisted on him getting one of these, he was sure he'd never see the point of them. But he needed to contact Quinn, and tell her that Blaine was affected too, and more importantly in a different way than anyone else. These things were supposed to be easy to handle, right?

As it turned out, they weren't. He wasn't even sure how long he had fiddled with that thing, but he did know that he needed to talk to Quinn. Why wouldn't this obnoxious device work?

“Stupid goddamn thing,” he growled. He was starting to see Sue's point in throwing them against every possible surface.

“What's wrong?”

Kurt looked up in surprise. He had been so annoyed with that thing that he hadn't noticed Blaine waking, and finally sitting up. Fine, they could do it this way, too.

“Call Quinn,” he said. “We have new information.”

Blaine frowned, obviously not yet awake. “What information?” he asked.

Kurt closed his eyes, trying to gather strength before he answered. “Just... just call her. And switch on that thing where I can hear her talk.”

“Speaker?” Blaine suggested. “Alright, gimme.” He held out his hand, slowly blinking until he managed to keep his eyes open.

Kurt watched him carefully for any more signs of strange behavior. He seemed exhausted, but he had just woken up.

A moment later, Blaine put the phone in front of him onto the couch and a signal tone ringing. After only three tones, Quinn's voice answered.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Blaine said. “But Kurt has something to say.” He must have noticed the vampire's suspicious look at the device. “Just talk,” he whispered, slightly rolling his eyes.

“What is it?” Quinn asked. She sounded tense, as if she was waiting for something.

“I think the hair doesn't always cause the same reaction. Some people might be affected in a different way,” Kurt said. He looked down onto the phone, not wanting to look at Blaine directly.

“What? Who? And how?” Blaine asked, clearly confused by this development.

Kurt opened his mouth, not sure what he wanted to say.

“I think he's talking about you,” Quinn said, her voice soft.

“Er... no. He's not...” Blaine looked up to Kurt, his eyes widening. “What... Kurt?”

“They're in your eyes. Those... hairs, or spikes. I checked earlier,” he said.

“But... I'm not showing any signs,” Blaine protested. “I'm not more angry, or more aggressive...”

“You're more tired,” Kurt said. “More doubtful, maybe. As I said, you're affected in a different way.”

“Have you felt extremely happy lately? I mean, when you were taking care of the unicorn?” Quinn asked.

Blaine's eyes were wide and insecure. “I... I was...”

“It was fulfilling, wasn't it?” Quinn continued. “A safe target for all tat love... you could just pour it onto the unicorn.”

Blaine's face flushed. “I...what? What love?”

Quinn sighed. “I know you feel lonely sometimes,” she said. “Even though you don't want Cooper to see. But the unicorn was something to focus on. It made you happy. Made you feel useful, right?”

“I... okay, fine,” Blaine said. “Focusing on her made other things seem less painful. But what does this even mean?”

“It means you already know exactly what we're dealing with, doesn't it?” Kurt asked.

“Well, I've had a few theories,” Quinn admitted. “But this is really helping in narrowing it down.”

“So what's wrong with my unicorn?” Blaine asked.

“She's not a unicorn,” Quinn said “She's an erisian demon.”

“A what now?” Kurt asked, picking up the equally confused look on Blaine's face.

“An erisian demon,” Quinn repeated. “They're shapeshifters from a different plane. Listen to this and tell me if it sounds familiar. They're a highly competitive demon species, their mere presence is able to cause strive in those around them. They're born in different planes and abandoned. They believe only those strong enough to find their way back home deserve to survive.”

“So at least the part about her being a baby is true,” Kurt said. “What happens with them?”

“Well, they have to gather more energy in order to return to their home plane. And Blaine... I think it imprinted on you.”

To his surprise, Blaine's eyes widened, and he almost scrambled away from the phone.

“Okay, I did _not_ sign up for that!”

Even as Kurt frowned at him, he could hear a chuckle from the phone.

“Not the Twilight definition, Blaine,” she said. “I'm talking about the baby animal definition. You must have been the first person she saw. So she imprinted on you, choosing you as her caretaker.”

“So is that the effect of her? That Blaine feels like taking care of her?”

“I doubt she needed much of a supernatural influence for that,” Quinn said. “But yes, in a way. She infected you in a different way from everyone else. You're drawn to look after her, and away from the people you loved before. But most importantly... the erisian demon builds a connection.”

“What kind of connection?” Kurt asked suspiciously.

“You're not going to like this,” Quinn said. “Blaine... she's feeding off you.”

Kurt wasn't sure whether Blaine had actually gotten paler or if it was just an illusion. “Feeding? What... you mean she's going to drink my blood?”

“Not blood, no. I'm talking about energy transfer. You wouldn't even notice until she had taken most of your energy. You'll gradually turn weaker, and the thing will grow stronger. At some point, it will have enough strength to teleport back to its own realm – probably when it has taken all your energy. She's killing you, Blaine. ”

Blaine closed his eyes, and for a moment he looked just tired.

“I wish I knew,” she said. “But let's focus on what to do with the demon for now, okay?”

“We kill it,” Kurt said.

Blaine stared at him in disbelief, as if he had just suggested... well, to slaughter a baby unicorn.

“What? You expect me to sit back and watch while everybody else tries to kill each other and you grow weaker until you fall over and that thing uses your corpse as a raft to hell?”

Now, Blaine looked mostly disturbed. “That's... a colorful picture,” he said.

“Quinn, back me up,” Kurt said.

“He's right. The only way to weaken her influence over everyone – including you – is to destroy the demon,” Quinn said. “Fortunately, I think I know how to do that.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Let me guess, we take a stake  made  from some sort of special wood, bless it with holy water, and then we use it to stab the demon?”

There was a pause, before Quinn spoke again. “Okay, so demon killing isn't exactly creative or individual. Sue me!”

“What kind of stake do we need?” Blaine asked.

“Well, actual unicorn horn would be perfect,” Quinn said, “but I don't think we can find some. So we'll take elder wood. Do you have any of that around?”

“Sue has some,” Blaine said. “I think that dresser over there is made from elder wood.”

“Perfect,” Kurt said. He was walking over to it, and before Blaine could even think about protesting, he broke off one of its legs.

For a moment, it looked as if Blaine wanted to scold him, but then he sighed and shook his head.  “ R egular holy water?”  he asked instead.

“Do you still have that holy oil from Jersualem? It should work even better. Just to make sure you take it out right away;” Quinn said.

“Cooper stores some of it at home,” Blaine said. “Anything else? Spells or anything?”

“No, that's all,” Quinn said. “You have to try and stab it in the throat. Think you can do that?”

Blaine's face turned serious again. “Why does it have to be me?” he asked.

“Because Kurt will burn his hands off if he grabs a sanctified weapon and you don't have anyone else who's unaffected right?”

“Good point,” Blaine admitted, but he was clearly uncomfortable.

“Blaine, listen,” Quinn said. Her voice sounded calm and comforting now. “I know this is going to be hard. You won't want to hurt her, not with the way she influences you already. But you can do this. I believe in you.”

“Thank you,“ Blaine said softly.

“Get going now,” Quinn said. “The sooner you get rid of the demon, the sooner Cooper and everyone else will be free of its influence. Okay? And call me when it's over, or if something goes wrong.”

“Okay. I will. Thank you, Quinn.”

Kurt watched Blaine carefully as he ended the call, solemnly looking at his phone. It was obvious that he didn't share her confidence in him.

Slowly, Kurt walked over to him, putting a hand onto his shoulder. “She's right, you know? You can do this.”

“You don't know that,” Blaine said softly. “I might think I can do this. But I also thought it didn't influence me.”

“It's been a lot in a short time,” Kurt said. “It's not surprising that you feel exhausted, or overwhelmed. But you don't have to do this on your own. I'm coming with you, you don't have to do this alone. I'll be right beside you. We can do this together. I promise.”

Blaine looked up to him, still looking doubtful, but eventually he nodded. “Alright. Let's do this.”

* * *

Nothing brought a shock to you like the realization that you almost just killed a friend. Tina still felt guilty when she thought of Blaine, how he had narrowly escaped.

His vampire had saved him, of course. Apparently the thing was following him everywhere now. Was Tina the only one who still remembered that vampires were supposed to be their enemy?

But not for Blaine. No, he'd rather hook up with a demon than give her the time of a day. And he was surprised she tried to take his blood for a dark magical ritual? He probably wouldn't even have minded to share his blood with _Kurt_...Even if Cooper and everyone else was blind to it, it was obvious to Tina that something was going on there. One didn't have to be a witch to get that.

It didn't matter anyway. Didn't she despise the way her friends let themselves be distracted by relationships? Cooper and his whining over Quinn, that whole mess with Brittany and Santana and apparently Sam, Blaine fancying his vampire... She hadn't been that unprofessional when Mike still had been with them.

So she was not going to get pulled down into that mess, no matter how beautiful Blaine's smile was. No, she would be strong and rational, and turn into the hero Sunnydale needed.

All she was missing now, was essence of the slayer. Blood of the slayer, to be exact. Now that she thought about it, it had been stupid to go after Blaine. He couldn't help her. No, she needed Cooper Anderson for that.

Maybe she could go after Santana, too, but she wasn't a real slayer, who knew if her blood would work. Besides, she was scarier.

Hopefully, Cooper was asleep now. If she was fast, she could figure this out and become the hero they needed before the night was over. No time to lose.

* * *

Sam started to regret ever coming to Sunnydale. He could have stayed with his family, taking care of them, find a job in Ohio. He would have been fine there. Why did he really need a college degree anyway?

But here he was, in California, in his college dorm, and he was about to die.

This was all Cooper's fault, or Sue Sylvester's for directing everything, or possibly Blaine's because Sam was pretty sure he wouldn't have become involved with the slayer of all people if it had been anyone else but his best friend's brother. And usually, Sam liked the gang, fighting the good fight, saving the world. But lately, it had just become annoying. He knew that he wasn't exactly useful. He was just human. Compared to everyone else, what did he really bring to the table? Cooper was the Chosen One, capital letters and everything. Sue was just scary. Tina was a witch, Brittany was a faery, Santana was super-powered, Kurt was a vampire. Of course, Blaine didn't have any special powers, and he also got into a lot of trouble, but somehow things always worked out for him, while Sam usually felt like thee idiot sidekick to basically anybody else. He certainly never managed to convince a bloodthirsty vampire to let go of a talisman he had hunted for decades, and he never would have gone up against the faery queen to protect somebody who had hurt him.

Well, he might consider going up against the faery queen in order to help Brittany. But he was quite certain that he wouldn't be successful with it. No, Sam was just human, and maybe he wasn't equipped to deal with all of this madness.

Speaking of which...

The hammering to his door had returned. “Open the fucking door, Evans, I know you’re in there!”

Santana's voice was angry enough that she sounded actually hysterical. The door was locked twice, and he had put every piece of furniture he owned in front of it, but still he was worried that it wouldn't hold much longer. Santana was crazy strong, and this was still a community college dormitory – not exactly the sturdiest material.

“You won't get her, do you hear me?!” Santana yelled outside his door.

He shouldn't have put the moves on Brittany. She was just so... special, and unique. Sam couldn't help but get interested in this girl. He hadn't even wanted to make a move on her. It was just... he liked her. He didn't know how much. And sometimes, he got the feeling she liked him too. And apparently, Santana had gotten the same impression, and she was pissed off.

It was his own fault. He should have held back. But somehow, the last few days, it had been so hard to lock away his feelings. So maybe he had been careless. Maybe he had flirted a bit with Brittany – but she had flirted right back. It wasn't his fault if Santana and her were having problems. If Santana wanted any of her relationships to work, maybe she should stop being such a bitch all the time.

The next blow almost made the door jump out of its hinges. Sam retreaded even further back against the wall. He had thought he could hide in here until Santana got tired or anybody answered his texts. But maybe he would have to get out of here before it escalated. Climbing out of the fourth floor window... certainly nothing here could be going wrong.

As he turned to the window, he heard a crash behind him. Shocked, he whirled around. He had hesitated to long.

The door was broken down, and the furniture in front of it was being pushed aside, as Santana squeezed herself into the room. Once she was standing, she shook the wood dust out of her hair, looked at him, and grinned at him like a wolf.

“Heeeeere's Johnny!”

* * *

Blaine wished he could be anywhere else. He didn't want to have Kurt walking him back to Cooper's house, he didn't want to enter the house alone and silent, as if he had to be actually scared that Amalthea could hear him. He hated that his first way was to one of Cooper's weapon chambers where he still kept the sacred oil from Jerusalem that Sue had acquired in ways nobody wanted to investigate too much. But despite what he knew, Blaine really wanted to go into the garden, see the unicorn, and...

And what? Help her? Free her, maybe?

Blaine stopped in the quiet house, oiled up stake in his hand. Amalthea was not a unicorn. She was a demon. She had infected Cooper, and Kurt, and the rest of his friends, and he himself was being fed off even now. And not just that. If even now he could consider freeing her, to protect her even over Cooper's well-being, then her influence on him had to be much stronger than he'd expected.

No, he knew what he had to do. But could he do it?

“Blaine? Is everything okay?”

He could hear Kurt's voice calling from the door, waiting there for him to return. It would be easier to have him come inside, but... A shudder went over Blaine's spine, and he found himself involuntarily touching the side of his throat. If he focused, he could still feel the scars those fangs had left. He remembered how scared he had been, the pain...

He trusted Kurt, had trusted him with his life more than once already. He wasn't scared of being attacked again. But inviting any vampire, even Kurt, into his home?

Not ever again.

“Blaine, what's taking so long?”

“I'm coming,” Blaine called back. He'd have to deal with his doubts later. He had a demon to kill. Somehow.

When he walked up to the door, he could see Kurt standing outside, his face full of concern as he was waiting. With every step, Blaine tried to breathe deeply, to fight the feeling of nausea rising up in his throat. He could do this. He had to do this.

“Are you alright?” Kurt asked.

Blaine wanted to speak freely, to say that of course he could do it. But all he managed was a shaky nod.

“So how do we do this?” Blaine asked, turning the oiled stake in his hand.

“I'll hold the thing down and you stab it,” Kurt said. “I think I'm stronger than a baby demon.”

“Okay, yeah, that sounds good,” Blaine said. It sounded entirely too graphic for his taste, but he would do this. Everyone counted on him, and after all he was the one who had gotten them into this mess. Him and his stupid naivety...

Blaine sighed. “Let's get this over with.”

He stepped outside, fell into step beside Kurt as they made their way to the backyard. He could see the unicorn – no, the demon – grazing near the garden shed. She didn't even look up as they approached. She looked... peaceful, vulnerable, completely helpless.

She wasn't helpless. She was poisoning his friends.

“You can do this,” Kurt muttered beside him. “You know you can.”

Blaine nodded again, although every additional step somehow made it more difficult to believe it.

Finally, Amalthea looked up. Blaine froze where he stood, scared of her reaction. She turned her head to Kurt, and there was a flinch, as if she was scared of the vampire.

Blaine found his legs moving before he had even realized it. A few seconds later, he was kneeling in front of the unicorn. His right hand held the stake so tight that it hurt, but with his left, he stroked through her mane. She looked up at him, so trusting, so defenseless. How could she be a demon? How could she be dangerous?

He tried to remind himself of Cooper, who was out there, needing him to end the creature's influence. He tried to think of Tina, pursuing power she didn't understand, of Santana whose temper was unstable at the best of times, of Brittany and her otherness. And there was Kurt, right there with him, who had thrown himself into almost suicidal fights. The demon had to be stopped, not the least because she would feed off him probably to the point of his death. He needed to stop her.

His left hand got a tighter hold of her mane, his right hand was ready to plunge the stake into the exposed throat.

So vulnerable...

Easy. It should be easy.

His hands were shaking so hard, he was surprised he didn't let go of the stake. But still, Amalthea was watching him through her large, silver eyes, completely trusting.

He had to do this.

He could do this.

Gathering all the willpower he could find, Blaine tried to strike...

A sob escaped his throat, as he stopped the stake right before her throat, still shaking. He couldn't. How could he hurt her? He had to find a way, he knew that, but... Oh god, he couldn't.

His whole world seemed to shrink down to Amalthea, and her large silver eyes, staring right into his soul. She knew. It was so obvious. She knew why he had come, but she wasn't afraid. She must have known there was nothing he could actually do to harm her. He was the only one left, and he... he was helpless.

The stake started to slip from his grip...

And suddenly, it was torn from his hand. A sizzling, searing sound filled his ears, as if something was burning, there was a howl of pain... He turned, and all he could see was a creature towering over him, the stake in its claws. Blaine tried to get to his feet, he had to stop this...

A strong hand pushed him to the ground, and all he could do was watch as the stake was plunged into Amalthea's throat. Silver blood gushed from the wound, over the hands of her killer. There were screams ringing in his ears, as Amalthea was twitching on the ground.

And then, there were arms around him, he was pressed against a strong chest, obscuring the picture of he dying unicorn. Only then did he notice that the screams had been his. Tears were flowing from his eyes, as Kurt – of course it was Kurt, how could he have forgotten? - held him through it.

Over his own sobs, he could hardly hear the death rattle. Eventually though, silence fell. He noticed that the tears falling from his eyes felt... rough, as if he wasn't just crying out fluid. Kurt had said the hairs had been in his eyes...

“It's over,” Kurt said softly against his hair. “It's okay, Blaine. It's over.”

But all he could do was clutch his hands into Kurt's shirt as if for dear life.

It was over. They were safe.

He felt like a wreck.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we have it, the last chapter of this story. Again, I apparently really can't do short. Please enjoy.
> 
> Next story in this verse takes us back in the timeline, with "Let The Right One In".

* * *

Santana couldn't have said how long she had stood there, staring at Sam. She did know, however, that his panicked expression didn't make her feel nearly as powerful as it had only a few minutes ago.

She didn't feel powerful at all, actually. She felt...

Weak, tired, and a bit ashamed. Why had she thought it would be alright for her to terrorize a guy who could never beat her in a fight? Why had she thought it would be smart to take out her anger on him, instead of dealing with Brittany herself?

Oh god, she had told Brittany to get out of her life.

What was wrong with her?

“Um... so, do you feel really weird, too?”

Santana looked up in surprise when Sam spoke. “I... I do,” she said. Her voice sounded strangely weak in her own ears. “I'm sorry, I shouldn't have scared you.” Surprisingly, for once the apology wasn't excruciatingly hard to say.

“What was that?” Sam asked.

“I don't know,” Santana said. “I was so angry...”

“And suddenly it was gone,” Sam said. “I've felt that way, too. It's like there's been this shade over my vision, and it crawled up on you so-”

“So you didn't even notice it was there until it was gone,” Santana finished the sentence. She shuddered. “What the hell happened?”

“I don't know... have you ever seen something like this happen?”

“Never,” Santana said. She sighed and leaned against the remains of the door. “So we can assume the same thing happened to the both of us. Probably the others, too. And now it's over.”

“I guess we should check with the others, find out if they're okay. And maybe somebody has a better idea of what happened,” Sam said.

“Right,” Santana said. But then, she thought of something else, and she could feel the blood drain from her face. “This isn't going to stay a secret, is it? The Watchers' council...”

“Won't hear a thing about this,” Sam said. Although he looked just as spooked as she felt, he spoke with conviction. “I'm not going to tell them, nobody else will. Look, I'm not thrilled over this, but we don't know what happened, I don't think it was your fault. I don't want you to get hauled back by the Watchers' council for prodding or to lock you up or anything. Besides, Brittany would be really upset, too.”

“I'm not so sure... I... I told her to get out of my life. I don't even know if she's still here.”

“You have to be insane if you believe she actually left you,” Sam said. “Come on, we'll find Brittany, and then I think you and her need to talk.”

“Why are you so nice to me?” Santana asked.

Sam shrugged. “Maybe I just want to do something nice after this whole disaster. Don't you feel like that too? Now come on, let's go.”

* * *

The airport was moderately busy, even at this hour. But Cooper had no eyes for other people. He felt tired, almost drained. Only moments before, he had been filled with so much anger, had been anxious to get off the ground... But then, it had just disappeared, leaving him with this feeling of... emptiness. What had he been thinking, really?

There was movement beside him, as someone sat down on the chair next to him. He didn't need to look up to know that it was Sue. Of course she had caught up to him. Although now it didn't even matter anymore.

“What's that you've got there?”

He sighed, not even questioning her presence. “A ticket to Ohio,” he said.

“As someone who escaped from there, I can understand why the prospect of going to Ohio might depress you like that,” she said. “May I ask what you intend to do there?”

Another sigh. “I... I wanted to see Quinn. I just... I wanted to leave. I wanted to get out of this life, and get back together with her, and maybe she'd take me back and we can build a life together. Ridiculous, hm?”

“Completely,” Sue agreed. “You can't run away from slaying. Even if you quit, they'll always find you.”

“And Quinn has moved on,” Cooper said. “She has a real life. I don't... I don't want to keep her from anything. It's just...”

There was a snort, that made him look up. “Spare me the self-pity,” Sue said. “And there's no need for the martyrdom, either. That girl would love to have you in her life, and you know it. But you have to stay in Sunnydale, because if you don't, the world will end. And she has to stay with her daughter, because somebody has to raise that munchkin, and Sunnydale is about the worst place to raise a child.”

“I know all that,” Cooper said, the feeling of defeat pierced by a spark of anger. “But it's unfair! Why do I have to give up everything? I'm ruining my own life, and my friends'. And what about Blaine? He could be safe if I wasn't the Slayer, and now he feels he has to stay in Sunnydale, where – let's be honest – he'll most likely get killed eventually, and it will be my fault. Can't you see why I want to get out of this?”

“Of course I see that,” Sue said. She spoke completely serious now, nothing of her usual snark. “But you've been chosen. I told you, you can't walk away from this. And that's not because I say so, or because of the Watcher's council. It's because of who you are. You have these powers, and they will draw the forces of darkness as long as you live. It's your fate. And those close to you wish to stay with you to help you through the danger.”

“I know,” Cooper said. “And I didn't mean those things I said about you. I was just so... angry, and it was easy to project that onto you. I know you're not really the force keeping me in Sunnydale. It's just... it sucks. And it doesn't help that you can be really harsh sometimes.”

For a moment, they both were silent, before Sue spoke again.

“There's a reason I'm that harsh to you,” she said. “I've seen other Slayers before you. I've been with the Watcher's council for a while, so it's inevitable. When I was chosen to watch over you, I wasn't that impressed with you at first. But when I got to know you, I realized something.”

“What's that?” Cooper asked.

“You have a rare ability – you make people want to help you, to use everything they have in order to support you. I'm not sure you understand how important that is. But this team that you grouped around you is your biggest asset. It's what has kept you alive for so long. And when I realized this charisma of yours, I realized something else. Maybe you can actually make it.”

“Make it?”

“The fight against evil will go on forever, I'm sure of that. But nobody is the Slayer forever. Most die, of course, but in the history, a few have managed to survive. They eventually lost their powers, passed them on so to speak. From all the Slayer's I've met – you're the first that actually made me believe that's possible. That's why I'm riding you, Charming. Because you're worth the effort.”

Cooper looked at her in surprise. “You think I can survive this?” he said.

“At least you have a shot,” she said.

“What about my friends? What about Blaine?”

“Some of your friends have already gotten out and are fine,” Sue said. “And as far as Prince Gel-head is concerned... maybe you worry about him more than necessary. It didn't seem important at the time, but before I came after you, he and his pet vampire came to see me. They think the unicorn was behind it. I didn't think it mattered, but... something has changed...”

“The aggression is gone,” Cooper agreed. “You think Blaine did that? He figured out how to stop it?”

“He's not as helpless as he seems,” Sue said. “I have a feeling he has some more surprises for us in store.”

“He's amazing,” Cooper said. He could feel himself smiling, even through his odd mood. His little brother had saved them. He really could be proud of the kid.

“He's learning,” Sue said begrudgingly.

“I just hope he's alright,” Cooper said, and suddenly he felt serious again. He had his phone in hand before he had even finished the thought. Before he could do anything else, he needed to make sure his brother was safe.

It took longer than expected until there was an answer.

“Cooper? Are you okay?”

He sighed in relief. His brother was alive, and most likely safe.

“I'm better. What about you? Are you safe? What happened?”

“Demon. The unicorn was a demon. She's gone now,” Blaine said. “Sorry, I'm a bit shaken up.”

“Did you kill the demon?” Cooper asked.

“Kurt did,” Blaine replied. “And um... Quinn told us what to do. I'm sorry, I didn't know who else to ask...”

“It's fine, Blaine, I'm just glad you're okay. And I think I spooked Quinn enough already...”

“It wasn't your fault,” Blaine said. His voice sounded hollow, tired, and raw as if he'd cried. He probably felt about as exhausted as Cooper himself. Even Sue seemed a bit deflated. “Where are you?”

“Airport,” Cooper said. “But I'll come back. I just wanted to make sure you're safe.”

“I am. I'm okay. Um... I'll see you soon.”

Before Cooper could say anything else, the call had been ended. He frowned, not sure what to do next. But he didn't have much time to think before there was an incoming call. One look at the display made him freeze.

Quinn.

“What do I do?” he asked, looking up at Sue as if he was a child needing guidance.

Sue rolled her eyes and answered the call for him, leaving him no choice.

“Yeah? Hey. Um... Listen...”

“No apologies,” Quinn said. Even through the phone it was too good to hear her voice again. He had hardly been able to appreciate it when he had called her to tell her he was on his way. The anger had been too hot back then...

“I kind of owe you an apology, though,” he said. “I shouldn't have called you like this. And I'm sorry, I just-”

“I said no apologies,” Quinn repeated. “You were under the influence of an erisian demon. They cause strife and aggression. You weren't yourself, so there's no need for you to apologize. I just heard from Blaine that it's over, and I wanted to make sure you're okay.”

“I am,” Cooper said. “I'm at the airport, Sue's here too... and Blaine and Kurt got rid of the unicorn. Demon. Thing. So things should go back to normal.”

“I'm glad. I hope nobody was hurt,” she said.

“I'll find out when I'm back at Sunnydale,” Cooper said. “Thank you for helping Blaine with this.”

“Anytime,” Quinn said. “And you know... I mean it. If I can help you, I'd love to. Look, I know I had to leave quite suddenly. I know this isn't exactly my life anymore. But I can't just let it go either. I hate that we're hardly in contact. I know that's my fault, too. It's just... after that plane crash, I just had to think of Beth. She was left without her mother, and even though Puck kept contact with her, he wasn't really her father... I mean, biologically, yes, we're her parents, but growing up she only knew Shelby, and Puck was the nice uncle who visited sometimes. When Shelby was gone, she needed someone there. Puck couldn’t do it. Who else was there?”

“I get that,” Cooper said. “You know I do. I've never blamed you for leaving. You know that, right? It's what you had to do, we talked about it.”

“I don't think we talked enough,” Quinn said. “Not about what it would be like if I actually left. And I wish we had. So... I've been thinking. And I have a suggestion.”

“What suggestion?” he said.

“You're at the airport, right?” she asked.

“With a ticket to Ohio,” he said. “Do you think I'll get a refund?”

“You won't need it. Take that ticket, fly to Columbus. I'll pick you up at the airport, you stay with me for a few days. You'll get to know Beth, you and me get to talk, and we can figure things out. Sue will manage to deal for a few days.”

“I'm not sure...”

“I am,” Quinn said. “Text me your arrival time, I'm picking you up. End of discussion.” Even though her words were final, there was warmth in her tone.

Cooper looked at Sue, who rolled her eyes. “Just go. You have five days off, then you're back in Sunnydale.”

“Alright then,” Cooper said. It seemed unreal, that he would actually get to see her again. But this was happening. “I just... I can't wait to see you.”

“Me neither,” Quinn said. “Alright, I'll see you in a few hours then. And Cooper?”

“Yes?”

“I... I love you. I still do.”

He closed his eyes, warmth running through him. “I love you too. I'll see you soon.”

* * *

Tina was walking through Sunnydale back to her dorm, too preoccupied to think about how dangerous this usually was. Hadn't she made quite the fool of herself? Trying to become a slayer, attacking Blaine, even thinking about going after Cooper? Now the anger had faded, and she felt...

Exhausted, yes, but it wasn't that which had really hit her. She had been so close to Cooper's house that she had continued the way even after the anger had faded. She had wanted to check if they knew anything about what had happened.

What she had found...

They hadn't seen her, Blaine and his vampire, standing in the garden. Kurt had held Blaine in a tight embrace, and Blaine had been holding onto him as if he was drowning.

They had joked sometimes, her and Sam and Santana, that Kurt only helped them because he was into Blaine, or that there was something going on between them. But that had been a joke. Only when she'd gotten angry, Tina had started to believe it. Now? She wasn't sure. But it was obvious she had witnessed something between them.

What did it mean then, to her?

Nothing. It couldn't mean anything. So she had developed a stupid little crush. She had known before that it would never go anywhere. It was still different to see them together. Were they together? And did it even matter to her? It wasn't as if she'd ever even been an option for Blaine.

It still hurt.

Maybe an hour ago, she would have gone crazy. She could have gotten furious, threaten to tell Cooper about it. But now? She was tired, and sad, and she hated it.

She heard foot steps approaching, and she looked up in alarm. The person walking up to her could have been a mirror of her own emotions – sadness, exhaustion, defeat...

“Brittany?” Tina asked, quickening her step until she was standing in front of the other girl. “What are you doing out here?”

“I've been looking for you,” the faery said. “Everyone else is going crazy, because of the baby demon, but now it's gone. That's sad, isn't it?”

“Baby demon? What are you talking about?” Tina asked.

“It doesn't matter,” Brittany said with a shrug. “She's gone. Maybe it's because supernatural beings don't belong here. I don't know.”

“Why have you been looking for me?” Tina asked, as usual not sure how to deal with Brittany and her eccentricities.

“You're a witch,” Brittany said, “and you can perform magic. I need you to do that.”

“Do what exactly?” Tina asked.

“I need you to open a portal to my home world,” Brittany said. “And then talk to the Queen for me, because she seems to listen to humans more. She let me stay for a human, and maybe for a human she'll let me go home.”

“Go home? To the faery world? But... why?”

“It's time,” Brittany said, but her face closed down so drastically that Tina could just tell that there was more going on. “Will you do it?”

Tina sighed. “I'm not doing any magic tonight. I need time to recover and to think. And I guess you can use some, too. So let's just go back to the dorm, go to sleep, and figure out everything else tomorrow. What do you say?”

Brittany looked decidedly unhappy with this. She looked at Tina as if she was pondering whether it would be worth it to try some of her faery powers to change her mind. Eventually, though, she resigned and just shrugged. “I guess we can do that.”

“Whatever is bothering you might even fade, if this weird anger thing is really over,” Tina said.

“Santana's anger thing is never over,” Brittany said. Her voice sounded carefree, but her expression was clouded.

“Then why don't you talk to Santana about this?” Tina suggested. “Actually talk. You know, like humans do. And listen, that's part of it, too.”

Brittany sighed. “I guess... You humans make everything so complicated.”

Tina thought of Blaine, how tightly he had clung to a vampire, as if he was the only thing that made sense in the world. She also thought back on Kurt, how tender his expression had been. It hurt, but even in the moment of hurt, she felt stupid.

“Not just humans,” she said. “But yes, us especially.” She shook her head. She was not going to discuss this with Brittany of all people. She didn't understand the mere idea of the word secret, and Tina was not ready to have her silly feelings examined by everyone in their group. “Let's just go back.”

They were silent the rest of the way. They didn't have much to talk at the best of days, and now at least Tina felt exhausted from tonight's events, and really, the days leading up to it, the rising anger... All she wanted to do was sleep. If it had been Sam, they might have talked about anything unimportant. But conversations with Brittany could become very bizarre, and Tina did not feel awake enough for that particular madness. But at least, with the faery by her side, she didn't need to worry about any vampires attacking.

Though somehow, they didn't encounter anybody until they had reached their dorms. Tina thanked their lucky stars. How easy could something worse have happened while they were all distracted by their private drama...

When they had just reached the of the dormitory, Tina spotted to figures also headed to the building, though from another direction. In the darkness, it took her a moment until she recognized them as Sam and Santana. Now that was a pair she hadn't expected walking peacefully together...

Santana had spotted them too, because for a second she stopped as if frozen – then she ran towards them, as fast as she could. Tina watched as the other girl approached them, ran to Brittany, and threw her arms around the faery.

“Oh thank god, you're still here!”

“I guess,” Brittany said, still not sounding very enthusiastic.

“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it!” Santana said.

“You didn't?” Brittany tilted her head, and Tina thought she heard a note of hope in her usual monotone.

“Of course I didn't! I'd never want you gone. It's just... there's so much going on in my head, and my life too. I don't know how to deal with it sometimes. I don't mean to take it out on you. It's just too much sometimes.”

“So do we have to talk now?” Brittany asked. “Tina said we do.”

Santana threw a look of resigned frustration at her. “I guess she has a point,” she said. “But... not tonight, okay? Can we just be together tonight, and talk tomorrow?”

Brittany frowned, really seeming to think it through. Eventually, though, she nodded. “Okay.”

They hugged again, then walked inside the building their pinkies intertwined. Tina watched them, not sure what to think of it.

“Everybody ends up together,” she said softly.

“Really?” Sam asked. “Like... those two and us?”

Tina winced. She had almost forgotten he was here, too, and hadn't even noticed how he had approached the group.

“No, those two and... it doesn't matter. Just... it's neat, isn't it? It all just stops and... everything's sorted out.”

“It's not sorted out,” Sam said. “But there's a chance for it.”

Tina felt the corners of her mouth twitch upward into a smile. “That's a very nice way to think of it,” she said. “I like it.”

“I'm glad,” Sam said. “I'm also glad this is over, whatever it was. Do you feel as tired as I do?”

“Definitely,” Tina said. “I need to sleep for like two days.”

“Me too,” Sam said. “So... um... weird question... Could I maybe crash with you for a few nights? My room isn't exactly... inhabitable.”

“What happened?” Tina asked, frowning.

“Have you seen the Shining?” Sam replied. “Never mind. Just... can I?”

Tina rolled her eyes. “Come up, then. What are friends for?”

* * *

Kurt didn't know how long they had been sitting on Cooper's porch, Blaine weakly leaning against his shoulders. He ignored the pulsating pain in his right hand from where the holy weapon had burnt him. Vampires weren't supposed to hold things like this. But it had been necessary, and it had worked. The fight was over, the demon was dead, and the effects on the others had faded. By now, Blaine had not only talked to Cooper but also the rest of his friends. Everyone was okay. Nothing bad had happened.

But still, Blaine was sitting there, slumped into himself. He looked exhausted. As he rubbed his eyes. When he touched a hand to his wet cheek, Kurt could see the small, needle-like hairs. They had flown out of his eyes with the tears, a visible proof of the demon's influence fading.

Blaine seemed calmer now.  T alking to his brother and his friends had definitely helped. Still, he was sitting there, his arm barely touching Kurt's, and his eyes firmly on the ground, not looking up.

A part of Kurt's mind told him to leave now. He had helped with the threat, had done even more than was necessary.  After all,  that was his rule, wasn't it? If it's not the apocalypse, he wouldn't get involved, unless his own head was on the line.

And Blaine. No use denying it, he would always help if Blaine was in danger. Hell, that would probably turn him into a permanent member of that damn scoobie gang...

Either way, the danger was gone, and he still couldn't make himself leave.

“Hey,” Kurt said softly. “Are you okay?”

“Sure,” Blaine said, although it sounded more like a reflex. “I'm fine. Just tired.”

“Maybe you should rest,” Kurt suggested. “It's been a rough night for you. Of course, you're exhausted.”

“What about you?” Blaine asked. “Are you alright?”

“I'm fine,” Kurt said. He turned his right hand, so the palm wasn't facing upwards, but the movement had unfortunately not been as casual as he had hoped.

“What's that?” Blaine asked, grabbing his wrist and turning his hand around. “Oh god... what... it's burned!”

Kurt looked at the surface of his palm.  It did look bad, his whole palm red except for the center where it had blackened, blisters on it... It still hurt. But he could bear it, and he'd bite his tongue off before he'd admit it to Blaine.

He shrugged. “It's not painful anymore. It will regenerate after I've had some more blood. Don't worry about it.”

“Where did you get that?” Blaine asked.

“Vampire. Elder wood covered in holy oil. It doesn't match too well,” Kurt said. “It burnt for a moment when I held the stake. But it's fine, just looks worse than it is. As I said, it will regenerate. In a few nights' time, you won't even know it was there. I'm serious, don't worry about it.”

“But... it's my fault,” Blaine said slowly. “I should have been able to kill her, you shouldn't have needed to even do this. You only got hurt because I wasn't strong enough.”

“I'd hardly call this getting hurt,” Kurt replied. “And you were under a form of mind control, too. It was foolish to expect you could just break out of it. Let's just be glad it worked out the way it did.”

“Yeah, right...” Blaine nodded, but everything from his expression to the way his shoulders slouched just screamed defeat.

“Can I ask you something?” Kurt asked. “Why is this really bothering you so much? There have been demons and other creatures before, you're not the first of us who got fooled, and while this was disturbing, nothing really bad happened. Why are you so beaten up about this?”

Blaine looked at him, hesitation written all over his face. Eventually, he looked down again before he started to speak.

“This whole thing... it's my fault. It only happened because I let a demon into our lives. Because I was... stupid enough, and naïve enough, to believe that unicorns exist, and that one would come to me and choose me. I just... I thought I was special, that I had something amazing happen to me. But it was just a trap, and it only worked because I was so... dumb. Everyone will tell you, I'm too naïve, I'm blind... Ask Sue, or Santana... and where does it get me? That's what gets me targeted all the time, be it vampires, or demons, or faeries... It's just...” He sighed, shaking his head. “I'm the kind of person these things happen to, Kurt. I'm someone these things can just be done to, and I'm _sick_ of it. I just... I thought if I stayed optimistic, and if I believed in good things, then they'd happen. But I was wrong, wasn't I?” He looked up now, his eyes gleaming with unshed tears, but his face hard with anger. “Life's not fair. The good guys don't always win, the bad guys don't always get what they deserve. My brother will eventually get killed trying to save the world, and my friends might be too. This is reality. Good things don't happen, and unicorns don't exist. That's why I'm bothered, Kurt. That's why it's eating me up.”

Kurt felt cold to the core. This was a side of Blaine he hadn't seen so far, apparently one the boy had not only been trying to hide, but actively fight against. Was this what Sunnydale had done to him? Or had there been roots to this defeatist attitude before?

Either way, he would not stand for this. Blaine's optimism and faith had been impressive, humbling for him. He had wondered just how the boy managed to keep his sunny attitude in spite of everything. He was not going to stand by and let Sunnydale or any demon drag Blaine down.

“You're wrong,” he said. “So this wasn't a unicorn. You were tricked. But that doesn't mean that unicorns don't exist, or that there's nothing to believe in.”

“What ever good came out of me believing?”

Kurt bit his lip. He could step back now. But what was his pride even worth, compared to Blaine so deeply miserable? Nothing.

“There's me.”

Blaine's face immediately softened, and a shadow of confusion appeared. “What do you mean?”

“You believed in me,” Kurt said. “Nobody else did. And you had no reason to, either. Sure, your brother approached me for help on occasion, but he knew I wasn't one of them, that he had to be careful around me. But you? You started to trust me, even after I gave you every reason not to. I attacked you, and still, you managed to see beyond that. You believed I could be better. Me, a vampire. It's about as likely as a unicorn.”

“I was awful to you, though,” Blaine said softly. “I told you that you'd ruined my life.”

“I did ruin your life,” Kurt said. “After that night, it couldn't have been the same. I had no right to do that, no right to hurt you at all.”

“You know I forgave you,” Blaine said.

“Yes. Because you believed in me. And look at me now. I'm helping with freaking bunnies! Without being forced! Face it, you've completely changed my life as well.”

“But you hate it. You keep saying so.” There was a smile starting to sneak into Blaine's face. He knew exactly how much truth was behind these complaints.

“Blaine, the truth is... When I say I have other friends except you guys... that's a lie. I don't. The friends I had before you are all long dead, or vanished... And Sebastian is not my friend. I used to hang out with him and Hunter, but that wasn't friendship. Actually, those have been some of the darkest times in my life. But you? You believed in me, when nobody would have, and you became my friend. I guess even the rest of your brother's ridiculous gang qualify as friends. But I wouldn't even have been a person ready for friendship, if it hadn't been for you. If you hadn't believed in me... I would hang around the graveyard every night, fight with those ridiculous high school neanderthals, and... I'd be so lonely, I wouldn't even notice how miserable I was. Instead, I'm fighting for a good cause, I have people who'd have my back if I was in trouble. And you. So don't say your faith never accomplished anything. It has changed my life for the better. Honestly – I don't want a world where you don't believe in unicorns. And I'll kill a hundred more demons, I don't care if it burns my hands right off – if only that allows you to keep believing unicorns exist.”

Blaine looked at him, wide-eyed and hopeful. “You mean it?” he asked softly.

“Every word.”

He wasn't quite sure what to do next, but fortunately, Blaine made the decision for him, by throwing his arms around Kurt's neck.

Kurt held him close, burying his unhurt left hand into his hair. He hoped his words would be enough to help Blaine get out of this low point. They probably wouldn't. Kurt knew a thing or two about self-doubts, knew how deep they ran. He thought back on their first meeting, the things Blaine had said back then. He had been lost, almost depressed, and thinking back, Kurt could see that the roots had been there even back then.

He couldn't make sure his words would stay with Blaine forever. But he could try to be there and remind him when things got too dark.

“Do you want to get some rest now?” Kurt asked.

There was a moment of silence, as Blaine thought about it. “I... Actually, I don't think I want to be alone right now,” he said.

“Well, I can't exactly go inside, and you should definitely not stand in the cold all night,” Kurt said.

Blaine frowned, hesitant and uncertain. It would be the easiest way to just invite Kurt into the house again, but it was obviously asking too much. He shouldn't have brought it up. Looking around, he suddenly had the perfect solution.

“That one's your room, isn't it?” Kurt asked, pointing to a window on the upper floor.

Blaine nodded. “It is,” he said.

“Why don't you go up to your room and grab a blanket or something, and I'll meet you on that balcony you have there? That's outside the house, it should be no problem.”

Blaine looked up at him in amazement, then he nodded. As he disappeared into the house, Kurt climbed up the house wall until he had reached the balcony. A moment later, the room lit up and Blaine joined him, indeed bringing blankets.

They sat together for a long time, not talking  much , just sharing the space, looking outside at the stars and the night sky. When they did talk, it wasn't about the demon, or what had happened.  It was everything and nothing.  They sat there long after Blaine had fallen asleep, and he could already feel the night drawing to a close. In a few moments, he would have to wake Blaine, send him inside to sleep properly, and then return to his refuge. But not right now.

Right now, he kept an arm around Blaine's sleeping form, allowed himself to breathe in the smell of his hair. It was going to be hard to suppress his feelings, harder if he planned to be around more. But he was still dangerous, and more importantly, what Blaine needed was for him to be a friend. The danger of the demon was passed, but Kurt had seen something darker tonight. This... bitterness wasn't something he had noticed in Blaine before, and it worried him. Killing demons and holding speeches was easy, but Kurt knew it wasn't enough to keep self-doubts and fears like this at bay. Time, and patience, and friendship might have a chance.

So he would do what he could, be a friend, be there. Be what Blaine needed. And if that meant he was going to spend more time with the slayer and his gang, to help fighting other vampires, demons, witches and other things...

He looked at the boy leaning against him.

Well, maybe this wasn't such a huge sacrifice.


End file.
